The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his brain cancer to military service or any service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not show a causal link between the Veteran’s brain cancer and his active military service or any service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic cancer of the brain, unknown primary underlying cause
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104430
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19104430.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of metastatic cancer of the brain, finding that there was no formal or informal claim prior to July 26, 2019. The effective date assigned is the date of receipt of the Veteran's intent to file a claim.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's application for HISA benefits was approved, but the authorization was cancelled due to his death. The appellant is not eligible for accrued benefits as a surviving spouse.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death, cardiorespiratory arrest, was not caused by or substantially contributed to by his service-connected prostate and/or bladder cancer. The Board determined that there is no credible evidence linking the Veteran's cancers to Agent Orange exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected condition, and thus denied his claim for service connection for the cause of his death.
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