The Board found that the Veteran's scleroderma was not caused by in-service radiation exposure and denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish a link between the Veteran's in-service radiation exposure and his development of scleroderma, which is a disease with unknown etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- Scleroderma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2012
- Citation
- 1207026
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1207026.
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: Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by acute/chronic respiratory failure secondary to scleroderma, a condition not service-connected. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking the disability to military service.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for Parkinson's disease, to include as secondary to herbicide exposure. The claim for scleroderma was remanded.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension, renal cyst, renal toxicity, and coronary artery disease (CAD) as secondary to the service-connected conditions. Scleroderma was denied.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's disability rating for scleroderma with polyarthralgia and Raynaud's phenomenon was reduced from 60% to 40%, but the Board has restored the original 60% rating due to severe exacerbations.
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