The Board found that the veteran's squamous cell carcinoma was not incurred in or aggravated during service and could not be presumed to have been so incurred due to exposure to herbicides. The appeal is denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding of exposure to herbicides, and there was no presumption applicable given the veteran's service in coastal waters off Vietnam rather than within the Republic of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 25, 2006
- Citation
- 0602082
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for squamous cell carcinoma, finding that the Veteran's condition is related to his active service, including conceded in-service exposure to Agent Orange.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that squamous cell carcinoma was a complication of his service-connected hidradenitis suppurativa.
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