The Veteran's kidney cancer was granted service connection on a presumptive basis for exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, effective March 14, 2017. The claim for an earlier effective date is denied as it would be precluded by law.
The deciding factor: The effective date prior to March 14, 2017 for the grant of service connection for kidney cancer was precluded by law due to the liberalizing amendment that became effective on March 14, 2017.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2020
- Citation
- A20015864
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 998 · Granted: 40% (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 A20015864.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for kidney cancer and chronic kidney disease due to a duty to assist error. The AOJ is required to conduct further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from a qualified VA examiner regarding the Veteran's exposure to in-service toxic exposures involving fire smoke.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for kidney cancer and lung cancer due to a lack of adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his kidney cancer, which is presumed to be related to herbicide exposure. The claim for lung cancer is inextricably intertwined with the kidney cancer claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate opinions regarding secondary service connection for kidney cancer, specifically whether it is aggravated by service-connected hypertension and diabetes. The Veteran's claim will be reconsidered with new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining medical opinions and private treatment records.
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