The Board denied retroactive VA compensation benefits for lung cancer and/or IHD under Nehmer v. United States Department of Veterans' Affairs, as well as an earlier effective date for DIC benefits due to lack of prior claims or denials.
The deciding factor: There were no prior denials for the conditions in question, nor was there a pending claim before VA on May 3, 1989. The Appellant did not file a formal or informal claim for retroactive benefits prior to September 3, 2011.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer, ischemic heart disease (IHD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19106954
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19106954.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for kidney cancer and lung cancer due to a lack of adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his kidney cancer, which is presumed to be related to herbicide exposure. The claim for lung cancer is inextricably intertwined with the kidney cancer claim.
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