The Board has determined that the effective date for DIC benefits should be March 5, 2001, based on liberalizing law and retroactive application of a change in the Agent Orange presumption.
The deciding factor: The Veteran had lung cancer prior to the June 9, 1994 change in the Agent Orange presumption, which added respiratory cancers including lung cancer to the list of presumptive diseases. The claim for DIC benefits was received on March 5, 2002, one year after this change.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic carcinoma, oat cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 10, 2016
- Citation
- 1623235
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 1623235.
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the cause of the Veteran's death and his heart disorder. The appellant is asked to provide medical records, and an expert opinion on the nature and etiology of the Veteran's heart condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a VA medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's fatal metastatic carcinoma is directly related to his in-service herbicide exposure. The Appellant may still establish service connection on a direct basis, despite the malignancies not being listed as diseases presumptively associated with exposure to herbicide agents under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e).
- Granted
The Board has granted the reopening of the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there is at least equipoise evidence to suggest a link between the Veteran's metastatic carcinoma and his exposure to Agent Orange during active service. The Board also found that the Veteran's cause of death was caused by this cancer.
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