The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death due to exposure to herbicide agents and also denied eligibility for Dependents' Education Assistance under 38 U.S.C., Chapter 35 (DEA). The Board found that there was no evidence linking the cause of death, cancer of the throat and neck, to any service-connected condition or to exposure to herbicide agents.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was insufficient medical evidence to establish a link between the veteran's death from squamous cell carcinoma and his active duty service or exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- cancer of the throat and neck, squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2003
- Citation
- 0306996
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0306996.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma is granted as secondary to his service-connected eczema and psoriasis. The initial compensable evaluation for toenail psoriasis remains denied.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis as the appeal is considered duplicative of a previous decision.
- Partly granted
The Board has determined that the severance of service connection for neoplasm hard and soft tissue of the mouth was improper, as there is conflicting medical evidence regarding the cause of the condition. The Veteran's conditions are related to his active duty service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to squamous cell carcinoma, finding that there is no evidence linking it to herbicide agent exposure in Vietnam.
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