The Board has granted the appellant's claim, finding that the veteran's cause of death was due to nicotine dependence which began in service and contributed to his development of renal cell cancer.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners and a private physician provided opinions supporting the conclusion that the veteran's cigarette smoking during active service likely led to the development of his renal cell carcinoma, which caused his death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic renal cell cancer
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2004
- Citation
- 0409865
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 0409865.
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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