The Veteran's cause of death was not service-connected as the conditions were not related to his military service and no herbicide exposure presumptions apply.
The deciding factor: No competent evidence linked any of the listed causes of death to the Veteran’s active service, including exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- colon cancer with metastasis to pancreas, history of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage, hypertension (HTN), vascular dementia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 25, 2020
- Citation
- 20014185
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20014185.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for treatment purposes only under Chapter 17 for various conditions, including cervical spine condition, right upper extremity nerve condition, left upper extremity nerve condition, headache condition, right wrist condition, left wrist condition, right elbow condition, left elbow condition, right shoulder condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), bilateral pes planus, right ankle disorder, left ankle disorder, and left knee disorder.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hypertension, ischemic stroke, and vascular dementia due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors. The claims are being remanded for further development including new VA examinations.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic kidney disease stage IV with dialysis and hypertension, as well as a claim for a psychiatric disorder secondary to these conditions. The remand is due to issues of new evidence received after the initial rating decisions.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeal requests as they were not timely filed, and no good cause was shown for the late filing.
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