The Board has denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for heart disability, right knee replacement, left knee replacement, and melanoma and related residuals as there is no evidence to support a nexus between these conditions and his military service.
The deciding factor: There was insufficient medical evidence linking the current disabilities to service or any in-service events or exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disability (first degree AV block), right knee replacement, left knee replacement, melanoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179325
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 19179325.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for melanoma, to include SCC of the right hand, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by exposure to radiation during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for hypertension, equilibrium disorder (claimed as bad balance and equilibrium), bilateral restless leg syndrome, bilateral upper extremity tremor, melanoma, and acquired psychiatric disability due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and Agent Orange in Japan.
- Granted
The Veteran was eligible for beneficiary travel benefits to attend a VA medical appointment on March 16, 2021 due to his service-connected conditions. The Board found that the nearest available clinic provided the required care and that the Veteran's statements were credible and consistent with the evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension, and melanoma. The Veteran's claims were based on exposure to herbicides at Fort McClellan, but the evidence did not establish actual exposure.
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