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
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20067976
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 20067976.
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 Veteran's cause of death, gastric cancer, is related to his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune during service. The Board granted service connection for the cause of death based on direct service connection.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error regarding the relationship between the Veteran's toxic exposure and his cause of death, gastric cancer. The VA clinician provided an inadequate opinion.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ failed to identify presumptive toxic exposures, including garrison exposure(s), associated with the Veteran's MOSs or obtain a related medical opinion addressing whether there is a nexus between any such exposure and the Veteran's gastric cancer. The case is being remanded for further development.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for metastatic liver disease and gastric cancer due to a duty to assist error in not obtaining medical records from Darnell Army Medical Center at Fort Hood (DACH) from 1995 to 2020.
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