The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death due to lack of confirmed herbicide exposure during active service. The Veteran died from kidney failure, but there was no evidence of Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam or Korea.
The deciding factor: There is no confirmation of herbicide exposure during the Veteran's service, which is a requirement for presumptive service connection under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney failure, decompensated liver failure/cirrhosis, lower gastrointestinal bleed, urosepsis, aspiration
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19139934
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 19139934.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for chronic kidney disease was dismissed due to the Veteran not timely filing a Notice of Disagreement within one year of the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, for purposes of entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), as further development is necessary.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for heart disease and kidney failure due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the Veteran's in-service asbestos exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for kidney failure and sleep apnea, as there was no evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's military service or a service-connected disability. The appeal also remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for hypertension due to the need for further medical opinion.
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