The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that her service-connected PTSD contributed to her developing ovarian cancer which led to peritonitis and ultimately caused her death.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion by Dr. M.R., which was given greater weight due to its thorough review of evidence and supporting literature, established a link between the Veteran's service-connected PTSD and her ovarian cancer, leading to peritonitis and death.
- Claimed conditions
- Ovarian cancer, Peritonitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25097876
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 713 · Granted: 31% (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 A25097876.
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 denied DIC benefits, finding that VA did not cause the Veteran's death through negligence or error. The Veteran died from septic shock due to bowel perforation, which was a known risk of surgery but not caused by VA.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for ovarian cancer and SMC due to loss of use of a creative organ have been reopened. The Board finds that new and material evidence has been received, but additional development is needed before final adjudication can be made.
- Denied
The Board denied the petitions to reopen claims for service connection for chronic residuals of ovarian cancer and SMC based on the anatomical loss of a creative organ, finding that new and material evidence was not submitted.
- Granted
The Veteran's spouse required regular aid and attendance due to her cancer treatment, but this changed after June 28, 2016. Beginning that date, the evidence did not show she needed regular aid and assistance.
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