The Board denied the claim for DIC on the basis of service connection for cause of death due to renal cancer, finding that there was no evidence linking the Veteran's service or exposure to herbicides with his condition.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing a link between the Veteran's service and his renal cancer, which developed many years after separation from service. The Board also found that the Veteran did not die in a VA hospital, so there was insufficient medical history available for annotation on his death certificate.
- Claimed conditions
- renal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19169844
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 19169844.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death is remanded due to insufficient service connection for the cause of his death, kidney cancer. The DIC claim is also remanded as it is contingent upon a finding of service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was determined to be caused by lung cancer, which is presumed to have developed due to service exposure to herbicide agents. The claim for DIC benefits has been granted with an effective date of December 19, 2014.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the VA medical opinion is inadequate and requires a new opinion to determine if the Veteran's renal cancer is related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's renal cancer and surgical scar are not service-connected. The case is being remanded for further evaluation of the Veteran's hypertension.
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