The Veteran's cause of death, pancreatic cancer, is not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking it to his military service or presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: Pancreatic cancer was not associated with herbicide exposure and no positive association exists between exposure to herbicides and pancreatic cancer based on the VA Secretary's determination.
- Claimed conditions
- pancreatic cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19166290
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 19166290.
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 pancreatic cancer as there was no evidence of a nexus between the in-service toxic exposure and the current condition.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatic cancer, finding that the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's condition was due to his in-service exposure to toxic and environmental hazards.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for pancreatic cancer due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, requiring further development of evidence related to toxic exposure.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatic cancer, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran based on evidence suggesting his condition was caused by exposure to herbicide agents during active service.
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