The Veteran's adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is granted as service connected, with reasonable doubt resolved in his favor.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's exposure to chemicals during service contributed to his development of pancreatic cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- adenocarcinoma of the pancreas
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20065210
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 20065210.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal for service connection of adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is remanded. The Board needs more records, including VA Community Care and VistA Imaging records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for the cause of death and burial benefits due to potential issues with the medical opinion regarding Agent Orange exposure and its relation to the Veteran's pancreatic cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for Ewing's Sarcoma, adenocarcinoma of the pancreas, Hurthle cell thyroid cancer, status post thyroidectomy, and non-malignant thyroid nodular disease, left lobe due to his exposure to radiation while working as an electrician on nuclear-powered submarines during his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran died from pancreatic cancer with liver metastases. The VA physician concluded that his service-connected low back disability did not cause or contribute to his death, and there was no evidence of ischemic heart disease at the time of death.
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