The veteran's current skin condition, diagnosed as chronic dermatitis and seborrheic keratosis, began many years after service and was not caused by any incident of service including herbicide exposure in Vietnam. As a result, the claim for service connection for dermatitis is denied.
The deciding factor: The post-service medical records do not show the specific Agent Orange skin conditions of chloracne (or other acneform disease consistent with chloracne) and porphyria cutanea tarda, let alone within the one year presumptive period. There is also no medical evidence to suggest that the veteran's current skin conditions are due to Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam service many years ago.
- Claimed conditions
- dermatitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 7, 2004
- Citation
- 0414561
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 685 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0414561.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of June 8, 2022 for the award of service connection for a skin disability (dermatitis). This decision is based on the receipt of an intent to file dated June 8, 2022.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals regarding various service connection claims and rating determinations due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the failure to attend scheduled VA examinations. Rescheduled VA examinations will be conducted to determine the current severity of his service-connected conditions and the nature and etiology of his claimed conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a skin condition, including basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratoses, and dermatitis, as it found no evidence to support a nexus between his current conditions and his active-duty service.
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