The Veteran's cause of death was urosepsis, which is not related to his military service. The Board found that the preponderance of evidence does not support a finding that any service-connected disability caused or contributed to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: There is no medical opinion linking the Veteran’s conditions to his service, including Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- urosepsis, diverticular disease, senile dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Myasthenia gravis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19116705
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · 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 19116705.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for adenocarcinoma colon (colon cancer) due to contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune, but denied service connection for diverticular disease, which the Veteran contends is related to his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected anxiety disorder and exposures at Camp LeJeune contributed to his cause of death. The VA must obtain an addendum opinion addressing these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for prostate cancer, Alzheimer's disease, pseudophakia, spine tumor, and a heart condition due to potential errors in obtaining all relevant medical records and considering the Veteran's exposure to toxic environmental risk activities (TERA) during his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for thymoma, thyroid nodule, Myasthenia gravis, splenic calcified granuloma, hepatic calcified granuloma, and calcified pleural granuloma, all of which are related to toxic environmental exposures during active naval service.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.