The Veteran's cause of death, carcinoma of the lung, is granted as service-connected due to presumed exposure to herbicides during his Navy service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: Herbicide exposure is presumed and lung cancer is presumptively service-connected for herbicide-exposed veterans.
- Claimed conditions
- carcinoma of the lung
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20005514
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 Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking lung cancer to his active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected carcinoma of the lung with post-operative right upper lobectomy and COPD is remanded due to worsening symptoms since the last VA examination.
- Granted
The Board has restored the service connection for cause of death and DEA benefits, finding that ischemic heart disease substantially contributed to the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the right lung mass biopsy performed by VA on November 12, 2014, with its subsequent complications of pneumothorax, hypoxemia, bradycardia, chest tube insertion, and arterial puncture, proximately caused the Veteran's death in June 2015. The Board has also determined that failure by VA to offer/schedule radiation treatment on or around April 2015, when the non-small cell lung carcinoma was first diagnosed, or at any time prior to June 2015, proximately caused the continuance or natural progress of the Veteran's lung cancer. The Board has therefore remanded for further medical opinions.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.