The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability.,The appellant sought DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, but the claim is denied as there was no continuous total rating for at least five years prior to death.
The deciding factor: There was no causal connection between the Veteran's service-connected condition and his cause of death (metastatic renal cell carcinoma).,The Veteran did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 as he did not have a continuous total rating for at least five years prior to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic renal cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19132058
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (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 19132058.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's metastatic renal cell carcinoma is service connected, and it caused the removal of his kidney and a jaw nodule.,Metastatic renal cell cancer led to the removal of the Veteran's left kidney and a metastatic nodule in the parotid gland.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, removal of a kidney due to renal cancer, and a metastatic nodule in the jaw for additional development.
- Granted
The Board granted entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as his metastatic renal cell carcinoma was related to toxic exposure risk activity in service.
- Granted
The Veteran's metastatic renal cell carcinoma is related to his active-duty service, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
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