The Veteran's lung cancer, which caused his death in 2011, is not service-connected as it was not incurred or aggravated during his military service. The Board found no evidence of herbicide exposure and the preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran served in Vietnam for purposes of the herbicide presumption.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not serve in Vietnam, nor is there any evidence of herbicide exposure. Lung cancer was not shown to be incurred or aggravated during service.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2018
- Citation
- 1801561
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 1801561.
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 granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left lower extremity neuropathy, as well as lung cancer, due to a need for further evidence through VA examinations.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to a lack of jurisdiction over the claims.
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