The Veteran's death is not shown to be proximately caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or similar instance of fault on the part of VA in furnishing hospital care, medical or surgical treatment, or examination. The Board finds that the most probative evidence does not show that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's death is due to such a cause.
The deciding factor: The October 2009 VA examiner's opinion is to the contrary and states that the squamous cell cancer diagnosed in December 2006 was a new lesion and not related to the calcified granuloma noted in September 2004.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer, throat cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2018
- Citation
- 1809380
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 1809380.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher evaluation of his service-connected chronic fatigue and weakness due to chemotherapy and radiation treatment for lung cancer is granted, with an evaluation of 60 percent.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for residuals of lung cancer from May 1, 2005 is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for further evaluation of the Veteran's lung cancer and its relationship to service, including any in-service granuloma.
- Dismissed
The Board has vacated its decisions granting service connection for lung cancer and remanding issues of tinnitus and TDIU, but the Veteran's death means these appeals are dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's request for direct payment of attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in an April 2025 rating decision, as the decision was not a result of a valid appeal and did not award any past-due benefits.
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