The Veteran's cause of death was due to complications from pancreatic adenocarcinoma with ischemic heart disease as a significant contributing cause. The Board denied service connection for both conditions, finding no evidence of exposure to herbicides or other presumptive conditions and insufficient evidence linking the conditions to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have ischemic heart disease or PTSD during service and there is no evidence of such conditions being related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic heart disease, Complications from pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19148211
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) at the R(1) rate due to his need for regular aid and attendance.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for increased ratings of ischemic heart disease and diabetes, and these claims are dismissed.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, ischemic heart disease, and hypertension from August 10, 2022, under the PACT Act. The claim for a thyroid disability was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to request a medical opinion on whether service-connected hypertension or ischemic heart disease was a principal or contributory cause of the Veteran's death.
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