The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking any current condition to his period of active service.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing a direct link between the veteran's service-connected conditions and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell lung cancer, chronic osteomyelitis of the right tibia and fibula
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 18, 2002
- Citation
- 0208038
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 0208038.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lung disability to obtain adequate examinations and medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's current lung disabilities are related to his in-service exposures.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for squamous cell lung cancer and asthma as the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 13, 2019 for the award of Dependency and Indemnity (DIC) for service connection for the cause of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for squamous cell lung cancer and lymph node squamous cell carcinoma have been denied.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for COPD has been remanded, as the issue is related to his service-connected lung cancer.
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