The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to lung cancer, finding that it was not incurred or aggravated by service and there is no evidence linking it to any period of active duty.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the lung cancer was not present in service, did not manifest within one year of discharge, and was not etiologically related to service. There was also no evidence of herbicide exposure during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2004
- Citation
- 0401683
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,325 · 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 0401683.
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 determined that there are duty to assist errors in the current decision and remands the case for further development, including obtaining an ILER and a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death is being remanded for further development to determine if it was related to in-service TERA exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's non-small cell lung cancer was rated at 100% effective from January 7, 2025. The claim for an earlier effective date is denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for non-small cell lung cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, finding that the evidence did not support a link between these conditions and exposure to jet fuels and other chemicals during active duty.
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