The Board has determined that the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the hand, melanoma of the head, and acute myeloid leukemia are not etiologically related to service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking the Veteran's diagnosed conditions to herbicide exposure in service or any other basis for service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the hand, melanoma of the head, acute myeloid leukemia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2016
- Citation
- 1646774
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 1646774.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's service-connected hypertension contributed to his cause of death, and therefore grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension and coronary artery disease, which may have contributed to his cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, sepsis and acute myeloid leukemia with toxic encephalopathy, was not caused by or related to his military service. The Board found that the available evidence did not show a nexus between the Veteran's exposure to toxins or herbicides and his death.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for acute myeloid leukemia and leukemic retinopathy with vitreal hemorrhage, but denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome.
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