The Veteran's claim for service connection for skin cancer was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The Board found that the Veteran's sun exposure during his military service may have contributed to his development of skin cancer, leading to a grant of service connection.
The deciding factor: A positive nexus opinion from the Veteran’s treating physician indicated that prolonged time on a ship at sea likely contributed to the Veteran's skin cancers and pre-cancers due to significant sun exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- skin cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19127776
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,454 · Granted: 23% (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 19127776.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for skin cancer and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions, and the evidence does not support a causal relationship to active military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation and service connection was denied due to a late filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for skin cancer has been dismissed because the Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for skin cancer, an initial rating greater than 10 percent for right knee strain with limitation of flexion, and an initial compensable rating for right knee strain with limitation of extension. The TDIU claim is also remanded.
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