The Veteran's cause of death, urothelial cell bladder carcinoma, is not service-connected as it was not present during or within one year after service. Diabetes Mellitus did not contribute to the Veteran's death. The Board found no evidence linking the Veteran's conditions to his military service.
The deciding factor: The fatal disease process (bladder cancer) was first identified long after separation and there is no competent evidence linking it to service, including herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Bladder cancer, Diabetes Mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19133372
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.
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The Board granted service connection for bladder cancer, diabetes mellitus, type 2, and an acquired psychiatric disability (unspecified depressive disorder), but denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and a psychiatric disability due to insufficient evidence of the severity required for higher ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for his diabetes mellitus, a higher rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder, and a total disability rating due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bladder cancer as there was no evidence of voiding dysfunction or renal dysfunction, and the GFR was over 90.
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