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Thank you for clearing this up for me, and all of the other helpful information you and Buck have offered me. It is much appreciated.

Yes, we have sent in the Death Certificate 3 times (original claim, inquiry on old claims, and evidence of marital records). Berta, is it your opinion that my mom needs to file a NOD or is the request for reconsideration that has already been filed enough? I'm confused about this. Is this because my dad didn't file before for service connection before he died? Just trying to understand Nehmer better. Thank you again for your time and responses!

I understand Buck52, and I appreciate your help. It's hard to talk about, but necessary. His cause of death was Metastatic Lung Cancer. They say that because that's where his cancer started. It then spread to his brain, spine, liver...... Thank you for your service!

We have submitted all medical records we have. We sent a copy to the VA. They have acknowledged receiving the medical records. The original diagnosis says "Non small cell carcinoma consistent with adenocarcinoma". I can't tell you if that is "respiratory" in nature. But, I found this on Publichealth.va.gov... "Respiratory Cancers and Agent Orange Veterans who develop respiratory cancer (lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) and were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service do not have to prove a connection between their disease and service to be eligible to receive VA health care and disability compensation." Does that mean Lung cancer is automatically considered a respiratory cancer? "Does the death certificate state Lung cancer as the primary cause of death, with anything else listed as a second contributing cause of death?" "Metastatic Lung Cancer" is the only cause of death on the death certificate. There was no need for autopsy. His cancer started in lungs and went everywhere else. "Other than Stretch I dont know if we have ever had a Vietnam Lung cancer vet here-and it concerns me that VA holds to "respiratory" lung cancer. I didnt know there were other types of lung cancer." There are several types of lung cancer, but you don't have respiration without lungs so wouldn't that mean all lung cancer is a respiratory cancer? "Respiratory cancer" to me just means to include the bronchus, larynx and trachea along with lungs. I believe one reason there aren't a lot of veterans claiming AO with lung cancer is because exactly what the VA guy did to my mom after my dad's death. Also, the veteran believes they are to blame because they also smoked at some point. I believe that may be the case if you're 70, which is the average age at which a smoker gets lung cancer, but he was 47 when he was diagnosed.

Oh, Berta, Forgive me, I typed that reply wrong. New to this! I meant to put my answers under your questions like you've done on other posts I've read, but somehow I ended up changing your entry by quoting you inside of your original reply. I'm sorry.

I'm having trouble uploading the VA letter regarding mom's request for reconsideration. It is dated 10/30/18 and says: "We are working on your claim for: Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Accrued Survivors Pension We received your request for reconsideration on October 24, 2018. In order to reconsider your claim, we need additional evidence from you." The letter goes on to say the VA needs my mom's marital records and included a 21-686c, which she filled out and returned along with copies of all marital licenses, and divorce decree, and death certificate. Also says "We strongly encourage you to send any information or evidence as soon as you can. If we do not hear from you, we may make a decision on your claim after 30 days. "We submitted that information on 10/29 via fax. It was received at VA warehouse on 10/29, and logged in the system on 11/05. The email address I used to contact NVLSP last week is "agentorange@nvlsp.org". If NVLSP is still answering that mailbox, how long do you think it will take them to contact me?

Mom received this letter regarding her reconsideration request. We have since sent all of her marital information (again). I called "peggy" to make sure they received this information, at first the lady told me no, but I asked her to look in all the "areas" correspondence could be and she finally said, oh, yes its here. I don't understand!

Berta, you are a wealth of information and I'm so thankful you are taking your time to help with this. Our VSO discouraged us from filing an NOD because she believed the request for reconsideration would be a quicker route. She stated an NOD takes longer??

Forgot to include....Because of the lack of response from VA in '89, my mom filed another 21-534 in ’90. I have a copy of that claim too. Stamped "received" and dated. I asked the VA rep who was helping me at the VARO if there was any further communication in his c-file re: the '90 21-534 claim and she stated "nothing follows regarding this claim”. There were no letters in his c-file regarding this claim at all. This is the same VARO who received the claims 29 years ago.

Thank you for your replies Berta and Buck52! My mom does not receive SBP or anything else from VA. She says Dad didn't sign up for it. She did move, but it would have been after the ’89 letters were dated I believe. Memory of that time is a little fuzzy. Dad never filed a disability claim during his illness. He was not a VA patient. He received all cancer treatment from private doctors. Mom did not have a VSO back then. The original claim is 29 years old. There is more to the story which might make it difficult to decide…. I know about the ’89 and ’90 claims only because she filed another 21-534 earlier this year. This issue has been on and off of our minds since my father became ill. I am helping her with this claim along with a VSO. The 2018 claim was denied because a 30 day lapse in reply to a request for information she’d already sent in with the claim. When it was denied, I called the 1-800 to inquire about our next step. The Lord blessed us with the most wonderful rep. She noticed the old claims and urged us to visit our VARO to view c-file and specifically claims from ’89 and ’90 and to send a request for reconsideration of 2018 along with mom’s marital records (the information they say was missing). She was the first person to notice the claims. My mom always said the guy at the VA told her she couldn't prove AO killed dad because he smoked, so I just assumed she left the office in '89 and '90 depressed and upset. She never said otherwise, and I'm not sure she remembers those horrible days clearly anyway. We submitted the reconsideration request last week along with her marital information. VA responded to the reconsideration by asking for the marital information AGAIN!! I called and verified they indeed had the information the most recent letter requested. Did they mail that letter before they uploaded her information sent with the reconsideration? After telling my mom’s VSO about the previous claims, she submitted an inquiry on 21-4138 into the old claims. We have not heard anything back yet regarding that inquiry, but its only been a little over a week. The VSO had not heard of Nehmer when I mentioned it. So, I gave her the information I found on the internet thanks to this site. Maybe it will be used to help even more veterans and veterans' survivors. Berta has mentioned the NVLSP here several times, so I emailed them last week. I haven't heard back yet. I also emailed the information to my congressman which sent the VA an inquiry and is waiting response from them. Berta, Do you think the denial and subsequent reconsideration request of the 21-534 we filed this year will have an effect on her claim? Will the VA notify her about the status of her reconsideration request? Will the VA connect the 3 claims on their own, or do we need to request that? I don’t know what IRIS is, or how to file an inquiry. Maybe that’s what our congressman did? Do we need to do that too? I’m afraid asking for too many things will confuse the VA with regard to these claims. Thank you for reading, and any help you can provide.

Berta, Were you able to see my last reply? I'm new, and am not sure you saw my response. It says "hidden" at the top.

Thank you Berta! Sorry for your loss. 1989 my mom filed a 21-534 shortly after my father's death. (Stamped "received" by VA with a date) 1989, Form 21-6789: Claim "DEFERRED" due to "Other". Under "explanation for items checked" is handwritten "AGENT ORANGE EXP. claimed. Control for receipt of instructions". 1989, Letter from VA: "VA could not take immediate action on your claim for benefits based on dioxin (Agent Orange) exposure because a U.S. District Court has directed that the Department of Veterans Affairs reconsider its regulations pertaining to dioxin exposure. As soon as the process is completed (approximately 6 months) we will consider your claim and inform you of our decision. We are sorry for this delay and will proceed as quickly as possible.” 1989, Another letter from VA: “Since you authorized the burial services for the veteran, we want to tell you that we are making payment in the amount of $150 to Funeral Home. A decision is pending as to whether the increased allowance for service-connected death is payable. We will advise you when the decision is made.” Nothing follows from VA regarding this claim in c-file. I have copies from VARO of all of this communication.

Hi, My career army dad served in Vietnam. He died after retirement at 48 of lung cancer. Does a deferred 21-534 claim from 1989 constitute a nehmer claim? The information I've read on the internet seems to say claims that were denied are Nehmer, but I haven't seen much information about claims that were marked "deferred" and never adjudicated. The claim includes AO presumptive illness. Thank you all for your help and wealth of information that you share on this forum. I've been reading it for a while and you have helped me so much!