The Board denied the appellant's claim for accrued benefits, as there was no evidence that a claim for prostate cancer or other conditions was pending at the time of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the lack of a pending claim for service connection for the relevant conditions at the time of the Veteran's death and the application of the Nehmer class member provisions.
- Claimed conditions
- Prostate cancer, Kidney disability, Hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2025
- Citation
- A25029501
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.
- Granted
The Board restored the Veteran's 100 percent disability rating for his service-connected prostate cancer, effective September 1, 2024.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a higher disability rating for PTSD and granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, while denying service connection for prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, and nuclear sclerosis and dry eye syndrome.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding VA's obligation to obtain relevant records from the Social Security Administration.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and higher initial rating were dismissed due to concurrent election of review options.
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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.