The Veteran's gastric adenocarcinoma, which caused his death, is not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking it to service or Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: Gastric carcinoma was not included on the list of diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure and there is no medical opinion relating the Veteran’s Gastric carcinoma directly either to service or a result of Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- gastric adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19133493
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 19133493.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for gastric adenocarcinoma, finding that the evidence does not support a link between the Veteran's condition and his military service, including herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for gastric adenocarcinoma, finding that the Veteran's exposure to herbicide Agent Orange during service in Vietnam and contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune likely caused his current condition. The decision is based on a July 2018 private medical opinion from a board-certified cancer surgeon.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for gastric adenocarcinoma, finding that the Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during service likely caused his cancer. The decision is based on a private medical opinion and resolves all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, gastric adenocarcinoma, is related to his active-duty service and grants entitlement to service connection for cause of death.
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.