The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, as his myelodysplastic syndrome did not occur during qualifying service and is not related to exposure to Agent Orange or any other service connection.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the cause of death could not be granted because there was no evidence that the Veteran's myelodysplastic syndrome occurred during a period of qualifying service, and it was determined that his condition was not caused by exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- myelodysplastic syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19179575
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 Board granted service connection for myelodysplastic syndrome, finding that the Veteran had presumptive exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's significant conditions at the time of his death were related to his service, including any toxic exposure risk activities (TERA), and if so, whether they had a material influence on the acceleration of his death.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection and initial rating were dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of a 10 percent disability rating for the service-connected painful left knee scar, effective October 26, 2022, and remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for myelodysplastic syndrome.
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