The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to pancreatic cancer, finding that it was not caused by his diabetes mellitus and unrelated to his active military service. The diabetes mellitus is recognized as associated with exposure to herbicides.
The deciding factor: Pancreatic cancer resulted from a natural progression of diabetes mellitus, which itself was not related to the Veteran's presumed Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Pancreatic cancer, Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2010
- Citation
- 1029576
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 1029576.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) at the R(1) rate due to his need for regular aid and attendance.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding no evidence that his death was related to any injury or disease in service, including exposure to herbicide agents.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a back disability, and remanded claims for respiratory condition, cataracts, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.
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