The Board denied reopening of the claim for service connection for prostate cancer because the new evidence submitted did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim or raise a possibility of substantiating the claim.
The deciding factor: The newly submitted evidence was duplicative or cumulative of previously considered evidence, which already revealed both the existence of prostate cancer and the Veteran's contention that it was related to in-service herbicide exposure while he was stationed in Panama in 1953. The evidence did not include any competent evidence showing the use of Agent Orange in Panama in 1953 or otherwise relating the Veteran's prostate cancer to service.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 11, 2017
- Citation
- 1738073
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 1738073.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer but remanded the claim for PTSD due to insufficient verification of stressor incidents.
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