The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking CML and AML to his service or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion found that CML and AML were less likely as not related to herbicide agent exposure in service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML), acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20003351
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 the Veteran's cause of death, chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML), due to benzene exposure during active duty.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the status as a surviving spouse for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) purposes, denied service connection for right hand arthritis and obstructive sleep apnea, granted service connection for chronic myelocytic leukemia, and denied earlier effective dates for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. The claims for increased ratings and other remanded issues were also addressed.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death was dismissed, and entitlement to service connection for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for purposes of accrued benefits was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected prostate and bladder cancers.
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