The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that his metastatic carcinoma was not related to his military service and that his anemia associated with hemorrhoids did not contribute substantially or materially to his death.
The deciding factor: Service-connected conditions do not constitute a principal or contributory cause of death when they are not the immediate or underlying cause of death, nor do they combine to produce death if they have no causal relationship to each other.
- Claimed conditions
- anemia associated with hemorrhoids, metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2013
- Citation
- 1310785
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1310785.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary, is found to be related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam. The Board grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death was due to metastatic carcinoma, which developed more than one year after his discharge from service and is not etiologically related to service or herbicide exposure.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus contributed to his death, and thus grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary, with coronary artery disease as a significant condition. The appellant contends that the cause of death may be related to service-connected prostate cancer due to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The Board has ordered additional development including obtaining service personnel records and medical records from private physicians.
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