The Veteran's death was not related to his service-connected disabilities, and therefore the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied. The appellant's entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is also denied as the Veteran did not meet the criteria for a total disability rating.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners concluded that the Veteran’s prostate cancer was in remission and not related to his death, which was caused by acute renal failure and sepsis with contribution from hepatocellular carcinoma. The examiner found no evidence of service-connected disabilities affecting vital organs or causing debilitating effects at the time of death.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, loss of bladder control associated with prostate cancer, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, diabetes mellitus, type II, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, lymphoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- November 23, 2018
- Citation
- 18152495
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 18152495.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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