The Veteran's death was caused by large B-cell lymphoma and graft versus host disease, which are not service-connected. The Board found no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service.
The deciding factor: There is no credible evidence of herbicide agent exposure during the Veteran's service in the Dominican Republic.
- Claimed conditions
- large B-cell lymphoma, graft versus host disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2018
- Citation
- 18143014
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 18143014.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for large B-cell lymphoma, finding that the Veteran's symptoms during military service are consistent with his diagnosis and that exposure to burn pits increases the risk of developing cancer. The effective date is not specified as it relates to a presumption under the PACT Act.
- Granted
The Veteran's large B-cell lymphoma is granted as service connected due to the condition being a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness of unknown etiology, related to exposure to burn pits during his Southwest Asia service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded due to insufficient medical evidence to determine if his service-connected conditions contributed to his death or were related to his period of active service, including exposure to herbicides.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death was large B-cell lymphoma. The appellant contends that the Veteran was exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. The Board finds insufficient information to determine if the Veteran served within the territorial waters of Vietnam, and thus remands for further development.
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