The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, finding that none of his service-connected conditions caused or contributed to his death. The lung cancer and glioblastoma were not related to service, and smoking was not considered a service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: None of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities are found to have caused or contributed substantially or materially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer, glioblastoma, depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20002115
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for glioblastoma under the PACT Act and a temporary total evaluation based on surgery.
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