The petition to reopen the claim of service connection for lung cancer, claimed as due to or a result of exposure to herbicides/Agent Orange (AO), is granted. The Veteran's service on the USS Navarro in Vietnam waters was considered but not sufficient to meet the criteria for presumptive service connection under VA regulations.
The deciding factor: The evidence received since the October 2012 denial includes statements and testimony from the Veteran, which provided greater detail about his exposure to herbicides/Agent Orange (AO) in Thailand. The Federal Circuit's decision in Procopio v. Wilkie extended the presumption of herbicide exposure to veterans with service in the territorial seas of the Republic of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130086
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, including lung cancer and cardio-pulmonary arrest, to address in-service toxic exposures.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to a lack of jurisdiction over the claims.
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