The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his pancreatic cancer is more likely than not caused by herbicide agent exposure, including Agent Orange. The decision also acknowledges a link between diabetes mellitus and the development of pancreatic cancer.
The deciding factor: The private oncologist provided compelling evidence linking the Veteran’s service-related herbicide exposure to his development of pancreatic cancer, supported by epidemiological data and studies on chlorinated hydrocarbons. The VA examiner's opinion was more skeptical but did not entirely refute the link. Given the balance of evidence in favor of causation, reasonable doubt is resolved in favor of the claimant.
- Claimed conditions
- Pancreatic cancer, Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19141448
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (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 19141448.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment prior to September 28, 2021. From September 28, 2021 to May 22, 2022, the Veteran had a combined total disability rating of 100%, which rendered the issue moot as he was already receiving SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death from pancreatic cancer may be service-connected due to environmental exposures in service, and thus remands for a medical opinion on this issue. The DIC benefits claim is also remanded.
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