The Veteran's cause of death, metastasis of liver cancer and COPD, was found to be related to his in-service herbicide exposure. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician with a specialty in Oncology concluded that it was as likely as not that the Veteran's cancer started outside the liver due to presumed in-service herbicide exposure, and contributed significantly and materially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastasis of liver cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107532
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19107532.
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
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- Dismissed
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