The Veteran's cause of death was attributed to renal failure and renal cell carcinoma with metastases, which the Board accepted as listed on his death certificate. The contributing causes were liver metastases. The claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied because there is no evidence establishing an inservice disease or injury relevant to the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's death was attributed to renal failure and renal cell carcinoma with metastases, which the Board accepted as listed on his death certificate. The contributing causes were liver metastases. There is no evidence establishing an inservice disease or injury relevant to the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- renal failure, renal cell carcinoma with metastases, liver metastases
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107109
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19107109.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate VA examinations and the need for further medical opinions regarding the Veteran's chronic kidney disease.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death, including Agent Orange exposure and contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune. The appellant is free to highlight post-decisional evidence for the benefit of the examiner.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the severance of service connected death benefits was improper and grants the appeal.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed within one year of the rating decision, and no good cause for extension was presented.
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