The Board denied the appellant's claim of service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that the veteran's death was due to his use of tobacco products during active duty, which precluded service connection under a new law enacted in 2001.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's death was caused by esophageal cancer, which was granted based on nicotine dependence acquired during service. However, as the appellant's claim was filed after June 9, 1998, when a prohibition against granting service connection for tobacco-related disabilities took effect, the appeal must be denied.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2002
- Citation
- 0216801
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 0216801.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death due to esophageal cancer, which is presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's prostate disability. The claims for esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus remain denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ committed pre-decisional duty to notify and duty to assist errors in denying the DIC claim for the cause of the Veteran's death. The claim must be remanded to allow the AOJ to make a finding regarding whether the Appellant is considered the surviving spouse, as this is a threshold requirement for DIC benefits.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for esophageal cancer, finding that the Veteran's presumed exposure to herbicide agents during his service near the Korean DMZ more likely than not contributed to the development of the condition.
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