The Board has granted service connection for cancer of the throat, status post laryngectomy, as secondary to nicotine dependence acquired during active duty service.
The deciding factor: Medical opinions supported a finding that smoking caused the veteran's cancer and that his nicotine dependence was due to service. The Board found it at least as likely as not that the veteran became dependent on nicotine during service.
- Claimed conditions
- cancer of the throat, nicotine dependence
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2004
- Citation
- 0410021
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,500 · Granted: 17% (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 0410021.
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 has denied service connection for nerves (physical condition) due to a lack of evidence showing the presence of a current disability. The claims for cancer of the throat and nerves (mental condition) are remanded as there may be relevant private treatment records that have not been obtained.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the cause of death and its relation to service. The Appellant needs to provide additional private treatment records, and a VA clinician will need to review these records to determine if the Veteran's cause of death was misdiagnosed or related to in-service exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for throat cancer to the Under Secretary for Health for a dose estimate of the Veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation, and if necessary, to the Under Secretary for Benefits for further consideration.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disability, other than unspecified anxiety disorder with alcohol use disorder, as an adequate opinion is necessary to determine its etiology.
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