The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for gastrointestinal cancer, to include cancer of the stomach (claimed as cancer of the esophagus), finding that there was no evidence of herbicide exposure in Korea and thus no presumption applies. The Board also found no asbestos exposure during service. As a result, the claim failed on both grounds.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records are missing, making it impossible to determine if he served along the DMZ or in Vietnam where herbicides were used. There is no evidence of asbestos exposure during his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- gastrointestinal cancer, cancer of the stomach (claimed as cancer of the esophagus)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 8, 2010
- Citation
- 1021227
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1021227.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, gastrointestinal cancer, hypertension, and prostate cancer to correct a duty to assist error related to verifying herbicide agent exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal for a new medical opinion to address whether the Veteran's gastrointestinal cancer is related to his military service, including asbestos exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new VA medical opinion to determine the etiology of the Veteran's gastrointestinal cancer, considering toxic exposure risk activity.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for gastrointestinal cancer secondary to GERD. The Veteran's service-connected GERD was found to be the cause of the gastrointestinal cancer.
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