The Board vacated the February 12, 2019 decision denying service connection for cause of death due to lack of consideration of new evidence. The preponderance of evidence does not support a finding that any condition caused by or related to service contributed to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA examiner did not consider all relevant medical history and evidence, including medications, in her opinion regarding the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Alveolar Hemorrhage (ARDS), Refractory Anemia with Excess Blast, Acute Renal Failure, Ventricular Arrhythmia, Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19141753
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19141753.
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 Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML), is related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. After considering all evidence and resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the claimant, service connection for AML due to herbicide exposure is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's service-connected PTSD caused or aggravated his cardiovascular diseases, which were listed as contributing causes of death.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and granted an initial 20 percent rating for right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis, while remanding several other issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several issues related to the effective dates and service connection for AML, including a motion to revise the November 2005 rating decision on CUE grounds. The propriety of the January 2022 rating decision regarding the effective date for accrued benefits purposes is also under review.
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