The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, concluding that his stomach cancer with metastasis to liver was not related to his active duty service and did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection due to exposure to herbicide agents, radiation, or asbestos.
The deciding factor: The Board found no direct evidence linking the Veteran’s stomach cancer to his military service, including exposures to herbicide agents, radiation, or asbestos. The medical opinions provided were against a finding of causation.
- Claimed conditions
- gastric cancer, metastasis to liver
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20067976
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's death from gastric cancer and renal failure was service-connected due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not due to a service-connected disability.,There were no pending claims for accrued benefits at the time of his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to provide the appellant with proper notice and to readjudicate the claim, including considering direct causation of gastric cancer due to herbicide exposure.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the death of the appellant.
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