The Veteran's transitional cell bladder cancer was detected many years after his service and is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident in service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's bladder cancer is most likely due to his extreme smoking history, which far outweighs any risk from potential hazards in the Camp Lejeune water during the brief period of service.
- Claimed conditions
- transitional cell bladder cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 8, 2016
- Citation
- 1604759
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1604759.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for PTSD, bladder cancer, and a TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development of his Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits file.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to technical difficulties with a previous hearing and requests for a new videoconference hearing.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the cause of death and whether service-connected conditions contributed to it. The Veteran died from bladder cancer, but there is uncertainty about the type of cancer and whether his pre-existing conditions played a role.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that new and material evidence was not received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for transitional cell bladder cancer, which was previously denied in March 2004. The appellant's claim is based on exposure to Agent Orange during his military service.
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