The Board denied service connection for cause of death due to bladder cancer and COPD, finding that the Veteran's COPD was not related to in-service asbestos exposure or other welding fume exposure. The decision also noted that the Veteran died from chronic renal failure caused by bladder cancer.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of COPD during service and concluded that the Veteran’s COPD was more likely due to his long-term smoking habit than any in-service asbestos exposure or other welding fume exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Renal Failure, Bladder Cancer, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20050266
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 20050266.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension was granted a 10 percent rating for the period prior to August 10, 2022. The Veteran's bladder cancer received a 100 percent rating from March 7, 2018 until September 8, 2018.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bladder cancer effective from December 16, 2005, finding that the Veteran had a claim pending since then.
- Granted
The Veteran's psychiatric disability, hypertension, and bladder cancer are granted service connection. The Board has remanded the cases for further development regarding herbicide exposure claims.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused or contributed to by service or a service-connected disability. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death as there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and no other link between the Veteran's death and his military service.
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