The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death and granted it, finding that the evidence is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's colon cancer was caused by his active service, including exposure to herbicides.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided are in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's colon cancer was causally related to his active service, including exposure to herbicides. The Board found this evidence sufficient to grant service connection for cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Colon cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19103505
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a lung disability and a bilateral foot disability based on new evidence, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and colon cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for colon cancer and individual unemployability (TDIU) due to a duty to assist error, requiring further development of evidence related to toxic exposure activities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to ensure all reasonably raised theories of entitlement are developed, specifically regarding a direct service connection theory based on complaints in the Veteran's service treatment records.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, colon cancer, arthritis, a respiratory disability (asthma/COPD), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to insufficient evidence of current disabilities or links to service.
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