The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service, specifically due to herbicide exposure. The evidence did not show a connection between the Veteran's service and his official causes of death: multi-organ failure, sepsis, refractory CLL, and myelodysplastic syndrome.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was no probative evidence showing the Veteran's military service caused or contributed to his cause of death. The VA records did not show any in-service treatment for conditions related to his causes of death, and the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) found a lack of exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- multi-organ failure, sepsis, refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), myelodysplastic syndrome
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2017
- Citation
- 1750882
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 1750882.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for blood cancer, leukemia, eye disorder, myelodysplastic syndrome, and thrombocytopenia due to a lack of evidence showing these conditions were incurred or aggravated by his military service. The case is remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, kidney cancer, is not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service or a service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for extreme fatigue, difficulty breathing, sepsis, and urinary tract infection due to incomplete records and a need for additional medical opinions.
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