The Veteran's acute myeloid leukemia is not service connected as it did not manifest during or within one year after his military service, and there is no evidence of herbicide exposure. The Board found that the medical literature does not support a link between the Veteran's leukemia conditions and herbicide agent exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that current medical literature did not support an association between the Veteran’s leukemia conditions and exposure to herbicide agents, and there was no evidence of the condition during service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- A20015716
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A20015716.
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: Granted
The Board has determined that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's service-connected hypertension contributed to his cause of death, and therefore grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension and coronary artery disease, which may have contributed to his cause of death.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, sepsis and acute myeloid leukemia with toxic encephalopathy, was not caused by or related to his military service. The Board found that the available evidence did not show a nexus between the Veteran's exposure to toxins or herbicides and his death.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal due to the appellant's withdrawal of her appeal.
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