The Veteran died in 1984 from lung cancer. The appellant's claim for DIC benefits was denied initially and did not result in an appeal. Later, the appellant submitted a new claim based on liberalizing regulations that included respiratory cancers as presumptively service-connected due to exposure to herbicides. The RO granted this claim with an effective date of June 24, 1996. The appellant appealed for an earlier effective date. The Board found no legal basis to grant the requested earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The liberalizing regulations that included respiratory cancers as presumptively service-connected due to exposure to herbicides became effective on June 9, 1994. The appellant's reopened claim was received more than a year after this effective date and thus could not be granted an earlier effective date based on the liberalizing law.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2011
- Citation
- 1115809
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 1115809.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher evaluation of his service-connected chronic fatigue and weakness due to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for lung cancer is granted, with an evaluation of 60 percent.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for residuals of lung cancer from May 1, 2005 is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for further evaluation of the Veteran's lung cancer and its relationship to service, including any in-service granuloma.
- Dismissed
The Board has vacated its decisions granting service connection for lung cancer and remanding issues of tinnitus and TDIU, but the Veteran's death means these appeals are dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for kidney cancer and lung cancer due to a lack of adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his kidney cancer, which is presumed to be related to herbicide exposure. The claim for lung cancer is inextricably intertwined with the kidney cancer claim.
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