The Board denied the appellant's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, attributing it to cancer of the urinary tract as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation. The decision was based on the liberalizing law contained in Public Law 102-578, which provided that the effective date for compensation granted under this legislation would be assigned no earlier than its effective date.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the legal criteria did not allow for an earlier effective date due to the liberalizing nature of the law and the specific effective date set by Public Law 102-578.
- Claimed conditions
- azotmeia, cancer of the urinary bladder, cancer of the ureter
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2003
- Citation
- 0307021
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 504 · Granted: 31% (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 0307021.
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 has remanded the cases for further proceedings due to errors in notice and a need to provide the Veteran with information about his right to a hearing.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not service-connected as the Board found that his cardiopulmonary arrest and cancer of the urinary bladder were not related to his military service, including his time as a POW.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Whole decision: Granted
Service connection for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is granted. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction is dismissed.
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