The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for skin cancer due to exposure to ionizing radiation, finding that there was no evidence linking his current condition to his military service. The Board also noted that while he had sun exposure during service, this alone did not establish a causal link to his skin cancer.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided were not sufficient to establish a direct relationship between the Veteran's current skin cancers and his exposure to ionizing radiation or sun exposure during service.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18158999
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 18158999.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for skin cancer and a disorder manifested by urinary frequency, finding no evidence of current disability or sufficient link to the Veteran's active service.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the claims.
- Partly granted
Service connection for prostate cancer on an accrued basis was granted based on the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine, finding competent and credible evidence at least approximately balanced between service-connected prostatitis and prostate cancer. Service connection was denied for stomach cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, the Veteran's cause of death, and dependency indemnity compensation benefits.
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