The veteran's death was caused by a presumptively service-connected respiratory cancer, which is associated with exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam. The Board granted the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The veteran served in Vietnam and died from complications of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, which is a presumptively service-connected disease due to exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2003
- Citation
- 0301703
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 504 · Granted: 31% (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 0301703.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his military service and the cancer.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to obtain and maintain gainful employment, warranting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx was granted with an effective date of March 31, 2014. The Board found that no earlier effective date is warranted as the evidence did not support such a finding.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for increased disability rating and service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded due to the need for additional examinations and opinions.
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