The Board denied the appellant's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death, as there was no unadjudicated claim prior to April 27, 1999.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the fact that the claim was not submitted within one year after the Veteran's death and thus the effective date is the date of receipt of the claim, which was April 27, 2000. However, benefits may be authorized for a period of one year prior to the date of the claim due to a liberalizing law regarding Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0910069
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, including lung cancer and cardio-pulmonary arrest, to address in-service toxic exposures.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to a lack of jurisdiction over the claims.
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