Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) was granted, as it was related to herbicide exposure during service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion provided by Dr. B., who concluded that APL was at least as likely as not secondary to Agent Orange exposure, supported the grant of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25045540
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 A25045540.
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.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) is not causally related to his military service, including exposure to chemicals and benzene. The claim for service connection is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's APL and his in-service exposure to benzene. The claim will be reconsidered based on this new evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by a service-connected disability, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), which the Board found to be related to in-service benzene exposure. Service connection for the cause of death is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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