The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death and denied DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 due to lack of evidence linking his military service or service-connected conditions to his death.
The deciding factor: The medical records did not establish a nexus between the veteran's military service, any service-connected disabilities, and his cause of death from metastatic non-small cell cancer and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic non-small cell cancer, lung, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2000
- Citation
- 0022829
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0022829.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to unclear documentation used as a basis for the original and amended death certificate, requiring clarification of the cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran died from non-service-connected causes and did not meet the criteria for nonservice-connected burial death benefits as he was not receiving VA service-connected compensation or pension at the time of his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is seeking compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for a lung condition resulting from right thoracotomy with right upper lobe wedge resection in February 2004 at a VA Medical Center. The case has been remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining relevant treatment records and scheduling an examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration of the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, including an evaluation of the causal relationship between any conditions he may have had during service and his death.
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