The Board finds that the veteran's skin cancer of the face, hands, back, and left ear is a result of sun exposure during service and grants service connection for these conditions on a direct basis.
The deciding factor: VA's Chief Public Health and Environmental Hazards Officer concluded that it was unlikely that the veteran's basal and squamous cell skin cancers could be attributed to exposure to ionizing radiation in service, based on medical treatises indicating high doses of radiation are required for such cancers. However, given the evidence favoring a grant of service connection due to sun exposure during service, the Board grants direct service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Basal cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 10, 2002
- Citation
- 0211672
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 0211672.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 30 percent for basal cell carcinoma and granted a separate 10 percent rating for a painful scar.
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