The Veteran's death was caused by cardiopulmonary failure and adenocarcinoma of the rectum, both related to his military service.
The deciding factor: Service connection for cause of death is granted based on a May 2024 VA opinion concluding it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's cancer was related to exposures during his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiopulmonary failure, adenocarcinoma of rectum
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2026
- Citation
- A26003783
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 A26003783.
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 Veteran's cause of death was due to metastatic lung cancer, which the Board found not attributable to service-connected conditions. The examiner opined that his lung cancer was not related to active service exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected condition, and there is no evidence of exposure to herbicides. The Board denied the claim for service connection.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, cardiopulmonary failure and chronic myelogenous leukemia, was not due to his military service or exposure to herbicides. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by his service-connected conditions, and thus denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The case is being remanded for further development.
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