The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that the Veteran's causes of death were acute myeloid leukemia and metastatic rectal cancer, and neither hypertension nor coronary artery disease caused or contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support a causal relationship between the Veteran's hypertension, coronary artery disease, and his cause of death due to acute myeloid leukemia and metastatic rectal cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic rectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2025
- Citation
- A25025697
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for acute myeloid leukemia and leukemic retinopathy with vitreal hemorrhage, but denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for acute myeloid leukemia, finding that the evidence supports a link to the Veteran's service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War era.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for acute myeloid leukemia to ensure an adequate medical opinion is obtained, as the previous VA examination was found inadequate.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that metastatic rectal cancer was not related to in-service toxic exposures or otherwise related to service.
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