The Board has granted the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death and entitlement to accrued benefits based on service connection for lung cancer. The claim for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is dismissed as there was no total disability rating due to service-connected disability at the time of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during service and whether his lung cancer, which caused his death, related to service. The lung cancer is presumed service connected based on exposure to herbicides. As a result, the claims for service connection are granted.
- Claimed conditions
- lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- A20015348
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, including lung cancer and cardio-pulmonary arrest, to address in-service toxic exposures.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to a lack of jurisdiction over the claims.
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