The Veteran's appeal for service connection for acute myeloid leukemia, which was linked to herbicide agent exposure, has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of his appeal and therefore the Board does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this case.
- Claimed conditions
- acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20081703
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death was dismissed, and entitlement to service connection for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for purposes of accrued benefits was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected prostate and bladder cancers.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) because it was not due to the Veteran's presumed in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was dismissed because the veteran died while the appeal was pending.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.