The Veteran's cause of death was listed as end stage kidney disease and squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to bones. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service, and denied DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 because he did not meet the required criteria.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's clinical records do not show any link between his lung cancer or kidney disease and his military service, including presumed Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- End stage kidney disease, Squamous cell carcinoma metastatic to bones
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 4, 2022
- Citation
- 22026406
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 22026406.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as there was no evidence that any of the listed causes of death were related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, but he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 as he had no service-connected disabilities and did not qualify as a former prisoner of war with at least one year of total disability prior to death.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is service connected due to hypertension, which contributed substantially or materially to the production of his end stage kidney disease. The claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits is dismissed as the cause of death has been granted.
- Granted
The veteran's cause of death, hypertensive myocardiopathy, was found to be service-connected. The DIC claim under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 is dismissed as moot due to the award of service connection for the cause of death.
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