The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for left kidney cancer, finding that his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune during his military service qualifies him for a presumption of service connection.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran met the requirement of having served at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days and thus conceded his exposure. The medical opinion relied on by the RO was contradicted as it did not consider the specific requirements laid out in VA regulations regarding service at Camp Lejeune.
- Claimed conditions
- left kidney cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004291
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 20004291.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for erectile dysfunction, left kidney cancer, and neuro-cognitive disorder with depressive disorder from January 8, 2020 was denied. The Veteran's headaches were granted a 10% rating effective January 8, 2020, but the Veteran's vertigo did not meet the criteria for a greater than 10% rating.
- Granted
The Veteran is entitled to an effective date of May 7, 2020 for the award of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the regular need for aid and attendance due to his kidney cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for initial compensable disability ratings for left kidney cancer and scar, anterior trunk are remanded due to a lack of VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and will need to obtain a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's left kidney cancer is related to service, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents.
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