The Board has determined that the Veteran's current skin cancer is not related to his active service, as there are no in-service records of skin cancer and the medical evidence does not support a link between the condition and service. The preponderance of the evidence shows that the skin cancer developed due to sun exposure over many years after service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found that the Veteran's current skin cancer is more likely related to cumulative sun exposure over decades following service, rather than in-service sun exposure during his active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- Skin cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186239
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,549 · Granted: 26% (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 19186239.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in pre-decisional duty to assist and other statutory and regulatory duties. The appellant is not provided with proper notice for a cause of death claim, and further development is needed regarding herbicide agent exposure and radiation exposure during service.
- Granted
The Veteran's skin cancer and actinic keratoses are found to be related to his military service, specifically sun exposure as a lifeguard. The Board has granted the claim for service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lymphoma and skin cancer, finding that both conditions are related to the Veteran's military service due to exposure to herbicide agents and sunlight.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus type II, both presumed to be related to exposure to herbicides during ACDUTRA at Fort McClellan. The claims for benign prostatic hyperplasia, headaches, and skin cancer were remanded.
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