The Board finds that the initial March 1999 grant of service connection for prostate cancer and various residual disabilities was clearly erroneous based on the legal presumption of exposure to herbicides set forth at 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii) pertaining to veterans who had 'Service in the Republic of Vietnam.' The appellant's active naval service did not include 'Service in the Republic of Vietnam' as defined, and he is not now entitled to this legal presumption.
The deciding factor: The appellant's active naval service did not involve duty or visitation within the Republic of Vietnam, thus his exposure to herbicides does not qualify for the legal presumption set forth at 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii).
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, urinary incontinence, painful scar
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2006
- Citation
- 0610498
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (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 0610498.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer but remanded the claim for PTSD due to insufficient verification of stressor incidents.
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