The Board granted an effective date of May 19, 2022, for the award of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The malignant melanoma was determined to be caused by toxic exposures in service, and the PACT Act allowed VA to reevaluate previously denied claims under certain conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- malignant melanoma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25029717
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for malignant melanoma to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically to obtain a medical opinion that considers all in-service toxic exposures.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for malignant melanoma, finding it to be at least as likely as not due to in-service exposure to herbicides.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected asbestos exposure causing pleural calcifications contributed to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for malignant melanoma to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 20.802.
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