The Veteran's cause of death is not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking the condition to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found no in-service incident, event or illness that could be etiologically linked to the Veteran's cause of death and did not find any exposure to herbicides during active service.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the lung
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19189061
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19189061.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for cause of death due to exposure to Agent Orange while working as an aircraft mechanic in Thailand. However, the case is remanded for further consideration on the merits.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the grant of service connection for cause of the Veteran's death was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous, thus restoring service connection.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the lung is granted service connection as it was related to herbicide exposure during service. The claim for a low back disorder remains pending and requires additional development.
- Whole decision: Denied
The veteran's death was caused by metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the lung, which is not service-connected as it did not occur during his active duty or due to exposure to herbicides. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the cause of death to his period of service.
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