The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for cause of death due to lung cancer, finding that the appellant did not meet the requirements under Nehmer stipulations and that the award was based on a liberalizing law.
The deciding factor: The appellant's claim was received more than one year after the effective date of the liberalizing law removing the 30-year presumption period for lung cancer associated with herbicide exposure, which became effective as of January 1, 2002. The effective date based upon a liberalizing law or VA issue cannot be earlier than the effective date of the Act or administrative issue.
- Claimed conditions
- cause of death: lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 12, 2014
- Citation
- 1440691
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 1440691.
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.
- Denied
The veteran's cause of death was not granted an effective date prior to January 31, 2002 due to the lack of a valid claim for service connection for the cause of death within one year from his death in 1984.
- Remanded (sent back)
The case is being remanded to the RO for a recalculated dose estimate of ionizing radiation exposure and a new medical opinion regarding its potential impact on the veteran's lung cancer. The claim will then be reviewed again.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for an earlier effective date for dependency and indemnity compensation benefits, finding that the application was received more than a year after the veteran's death.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
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