The Board denied service connection for skin cancer, to include melanoma, and remanded the claims for squamous cell cancer of the left tonsil and a compensable disability rating for lung cancer.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's skin cancer was related to his service or herbicide exposure. The VA examiner opined that it is less likely than not that the Veteran's melanoma is related to his service or toxic exposure risk activities (TERA).
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of adenocarcinoma of the lung, right upper lobe (lung cancer), skin cancer, to include melanoma, squamous cell cancer of the left tonsil, also claimed as throat cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2025
- Citation
- 25004153
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,077 · Granted: 25% (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 25004153.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches and tinnitus, readjudicated the claims for chronic fatigue syndrome and skin cancer, to include melanoma, and remanded several other claims.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the issue of service connection for skin cancer, to include melanoma.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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