The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a grant of such and noting that the veteran did not have any exposure to ionizing radiation during his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran was not exposed to ionizing radiation during his military service and therefore could not be considered a radiation-exposed veteran. The cause of death, metastatic melanoma, was also not linked to service-connected conditions or inservice exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic melanoma, cerebral hemorrhage
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 21, 2002
- Citation
- 0201700
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 0201700.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis for any of the claimed conditions and thus, service connection is denied.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for metastatic melanoma, finding that it is related to in-service sun exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service, including any in-service dental work or ionizing radiation exposure. The Board denied the claim for service connection.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current cognitive impairments are at least in part related to his in-service TBI, and thus service connection is granted for residuals of a TBI.
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