The Board found that the cause of the veteran's death, metastatic esophageal carcinoma, was not caused by his service or any related condition. The appellant claimed exposure to Agent Orange during service contributed to the cancer, but the Board determined this claim could not be substantiated due to lack of evidence and because the Secretary has not specifically determined a presumption of service connection for esophageal cancer.
The deciding factor: The cause of death was metastatic esophageal carcinoma, which is not among the diseases recognized as related to Agent Orange exposure. The appellant's claim could not be substantiated due to lack of evidence and because the Secretary has not specifically determined a presumption of service connection for esophageal cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic esophageal carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2006
- Citation
- 0611039
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · 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 0611039.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death due to metastatic esophageal carcinoma, which is presumed to be caused by herbicide exposure during service in Vietnam.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was not related to herbicide agent exposure, but service connection for the cause of death is granted due to a current disability (metastatic esophageal carcinoma) and a causal relationship established on a direct basis.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for cause of death due to metastatic esophageal carcinoma, which the Veteran was presumed exposed to herbicide agents during his service in Vietnam. The Board found that exposure to herbicide agents likely caused or substantially contributed to the cause of death.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the cause of the Veteran's death was metastatic esophageal carcinoma, which is not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking it to his presumed exposure to Agent Orange. The Board also found no evidence of primary lung cancer and concluded that the esophageal cancer did not result from Agent Orange exposure.
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