The Veteran's skin cancer disability is etiologically related to his active service, specifically his in-service exposure to excessive sunlight. As such, the Board grants entitlement to service connection for skin cancer.
The deciding factor: Medical opinions provided by a private dermatologist and VA examiner established that the Veteran's current skin cancer disabilities are at least as likely as not related to his service due to his history of extreme sun exposure during his military service in the South Pacific.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancer, actinic damage, actinic keratoses, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2013
- Citation
- 1306782
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 1306782.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the Veteran's basal cell carcinoma. The Veteran is seeking service connection for this condition, which he claims was caused by exposure to water-based contaminants at Camp Lejeune during his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma is granted as secondary to his service-connected eczema and psoriasis. The initial compensable evaluation for toenail psoriasis remains denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for skin cancer and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions, and the evidence does not support a causal relationship to active military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation and service connection was denied due to a late filing of the Board Appeal request.
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