The Board found that the veteran's malignant melanoma was not incurred in or aggravated by service, and thus denied the claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: An independent medical expert concluded it was unlikely that the veteran's malignant melanoma was related to his exposure to ionizing radiation during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Malignant melanoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2003
- Citation
- 0306920
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 0306920.
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: Granted
The Veteran's claim for a 10 percent evaluation for residuals of malignant melanoma with BCC and SCC was granted. However, the claims for compensable ratings for scars associated with these conditions were denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for malignant melanoma, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between the current diagnosis and active service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's malignant melanoma is granted service connection, with the claim being considered presumptive due to exposure to burn pits during his deployment in Iraq.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and remanded claims for service connection for malignant melanoma, lung cancer, kidney disability, hypertension, and TDIU.
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