The Veteran's cause of death, stave IV lung cancer, is granted service connection as a presumptive disability secondary to herbicide exposure.,Stage IV lung cancer is also granted service connection for purposes of DIC benefits. Accrued benefits are granted for the same condition.
The deciding factor: Herbicide exposure in Vietnam is presumed for veterans who served in-country during the Vietnam era, and this presumption applies even if there is no official record of such exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- stave IV lung cancer, an acquired psychiatric condition
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20002946
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 20002946.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition. The Veteran's tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss are denied as there is no evidence of in-service noise exposure or development of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for migraines, sinusitis, hypertension, and an acquired psychiatric condition due to missing service treatment records from March 2008 to August 2013 during the Veteran's Army Reserve service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for traumatic brain injury, dyslexia, and an acquired psychiatric condition due to new evidence received after the issuance of a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC).
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for IVDS, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and bilateral knee osteoarthritis is granted. Secondary service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition as secondary to these conditions is also granted. The Veteran's sinusitis is rated at 30 percent.
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