The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and eligibility to Dependent's Educational Assistance under 38 U.S.C.A. Chapter 35.
The deciding factor: Metastatic melanoma was not etiologically related to a disease or injury in service, including exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Claimed conditions
- Metastatic Melanoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2008
- Citation
- 0812168
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (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 0812168.
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: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected PTSD contributed to his death from metastatic melanoma, despite other contributing factors such as respiratory compromise and cardiovascular arrest.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the cause of death was metastatic melanoma, which is presumed to be related to service exposure to herbicides. The appellant's arguments and medical evidence support this determination.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not related to his service-connected anxiety disorder, and the Board found that it did not contribute substantially or materially to his death. The issue of an increased rating for an anxiety reaction is pending.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran did not have metastatic melanoma due to service or exposure to ionizing radiation. The claim for cause of death was denied as there is no evidence linking the Veteran's death to his military service.
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