The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his anaplastic astrocytoma was caused by presumed exposure to herbicide agents in service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion from Dr. M.K., an oncologist, supported the claim based on a thorough review of the Veteran's medical history and cited relevant studies.
- Claimed conditions
- anaplastic astrocytoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 2, 2025
- Citation
- 25008713
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 766 · Granted: 40% (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 25008713.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for anaplastic astrocytoma and brain cancer due to burn pits and fires exposure in Saudi Arabia was dismissed as the Notice of Disagreement was submitted more than one year after the initial denial.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking the Veteran's brain tumor, which developed after discharge from active duty, to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded for further development, including obtaining additional VA medical opinions to determine if his death was related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure in or near the Korean DMZ, which is required for presumptive service connection.
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