The Veteran's death was caused by stroke, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes. The appellant seeks service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death due to ionizing radiation exposure during military service. However, the Board finds that additional development is needed as there are no records indicating the Veteran participated in atmospheric nuclear testing or had any exposure to ionizing radiation.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not qualify as a 'radiation-exposed veteran' under VA regulations and did not suffer from one of the presumptive conditions listed for radiation-exposure-related diseases. However, his prostate cancer and bladder cancer qualified as radiogenic diseases and manifested in the applicable period following the requisite amount of time post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- Prostate cancer, Bladder cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20065802
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,890 · Granted: 32% (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 20065802.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for bladder cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as there is no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's arteriosclerotic heart disease is rated at 100% effective October 25, 2024. His prostate cancer residuals are rated at 60% effective October 25, 2024.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bladder cancer, erectile dysfunction, and gouty arthropathy due to outstanding VA treatment records not being obtained. The Veteran's request for a referral to a urologist for ED is also remanded. A VA medical opinion is needed regarding the relationship between the Veteran's gouty arthropathy and his service-connected conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bladder and kidney cancer were dismissed as the Notice of Disagreement was not filed within one year of the denial.
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