The Board has reopened the claim and granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that there is at least a reasonable possibility that the veteran's malignant melanoma was related to his period of service.
The deciding factor: The evidence provided by Dr. Fawell and the Under Secretary for Health supports a conclusion that the veteran's malignant melanoma may have been caused or aggravated by herbicide exposure during his service, warranting service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- malignant melanoma
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0607930
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 0607930.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for malignant melanoma, finding that there was no evidence linking the condition to his active duty service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for her scars has been withdrawn, resulting in the dismissal of this claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA did not obtain all necessary service treatment records and failed to provide a VA medical opinion addressing the cause of death. The claim is being remanded for these actions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for malignant melanoma and lung cancer due to a failure to fully develop the record regarding toxic risk exposure activities. The Veteran's service records indicate he was exposed to herbicides during his military service, but further development is needed to include non-herbicide exposures.
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