The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between his service-connected conditions and his death.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused or contributed substantially to his death from metastatic lung cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), malignant bladder cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19102096
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 the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date, a separate rating, and increased ratings for his service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal to obtain an opinion from a clinician as to whether it is in the best interest of the Veteran to participate in the PCAFC, given that the Veteran has been determined to be in need of personal care services for at least six continuous months based on an inability to perform certain ADLs.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claims for various cancers and eye conditions due to an alleged failure to properly investigate toxic exposures during service, including at Fort Wainwright.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain additional evidence and a medical opinion.
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