The veteran's death was caused by non-small cell lung carcinoma, which developed many years after service. The Board found that the cancer did not have a direct link to his military service and therefore denied service connection for cause of death.
The deciding factor: Non-small cell lung carcinoma developed post-service and was not related to service or service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Non-small cell lung carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 4, 2003
- Citation
- 0303681
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 106 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0303681.
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 Veteran's cause of death was due to non-small cell lung carcinoma and COPD, which were not incurred during active service. The Board denied the claim for service connection as there is no evidence linking his cause of death to herbicide exposure or any in-service event.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's cause of death should be considered for service connection due to exposure to herbicides, but additional records are needed from his service personnel file and VA medical records.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for an earlier effective date for DIC benefits, finding that the earliest date VA received her claim was April 20, 2015. The Board noted that she did not file a formal application for DIC benefits until April 2015 and found no basis to assign an earlier effective date.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's lung cancer was granted service connection based on presumptive exposure to Agent Orange, effective from March 12, 2004. The decision is presumed correct as there is no clear and unmistakable error.
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