The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death due to his cancer, finding no evidence of herbicide exposure in Panama and insufficient evidence linking his cancers to military service.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish Agent Orange or other herbicides were used in the Panama Canal Zone during the Veteran's service, nor was there any direct evidence linking his cancers to military service.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic colon cancer, left upper lobe lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2018
- Citation
- 1807590
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 1807590.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death was metastatic colon cancer, but the appellant contends it was caused by exposure to ionizing radiation during his service as an X-ray technician. The case is remanded for further development regarding dose estimation and consideration under VA regulations.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was determined to be related to service-connected conditions, specifically metastatic colon cancer and coronary artery disease. The Board granted the claim for service connection based on the evidence provided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between his service-connected conditions and his death. The Board requests a medical opinion on the nature and etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, specifically in obtaining VA medical records and an adequate medical opinion regarding the cause of death.
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