The Veteran's daughter is seeking to extend her DEA benefits due to cancer, but the Board denied this claim as her 31st birthday has passed and VA cannot grant an extension on an equitable basis.
The deciding factor: The appellant's 31st birthday had already passed, making it impossible for VA to grant an extension of her delimiting date beyond July 19, 2014.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic thyroid cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 25, 2018
- Citation
- 1829261
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 1829261.
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 granted the appeal for severance of DIC benefits and discontinuance of DEA benefits, finding that there was not clear and unmistakable error in the original grant of these benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new medical opinion to address the Veteran's metastatic thyroid cancer and its potential link to Agent Orange exposure during his service.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's lung cancer is not service-connected, as it was determined to be metastatic thyroid cancer and not a primary respiratory tract cancer. The medical evidence did not support a link between the Veteran's current lung nodules and his time in service.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's metastatic thyroid cancer was not caused by his active service, including exposure to ionizing radiation. The claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied.
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