The veteran's claim for service connection for skin cancer was denied as there is no competent medical evidence of record showing that the veteran has skin cancer or that his skin cancer is related to his period of active service, including exposure to herbicides.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim because there is no competent medical evidence of a current diagnosis of skin cancer and no evidence linking any such condition to the veteran's military service or exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2009
- Citation
- 0902265
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the claims.
- Partly granted
Service connection for prostate cancer on an accrued basis was granted based on the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine, finding competent and credible evidence at least approximately balanced between service-connected prostatitis and prostate cancer. Service connection was denied for stomach cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, the Veteran's cause of death, and dependency indemnity compensation benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for skin cancer, including as due to participation in toxic exposure risk activity (TERA), finding no evidence of the disease during service or within a year after separation and noting that the earliest diagnosis was nearly 25 years post-service.
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