The Board found that the cause of death was not related to service, and denied claims for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and rheumatic heart disease.
The deciding factor: Service records did not show any pre-existing conditions or injuries noted at the time of entrance examination. The veteran's cancer and heart disease were not shown to have been aggravated by his service.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, rheumatic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2006
- Citation
- 0613183
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0613183.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and polyneuropathy in all extremities, finding no evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's military service or a service-connected condition.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new VA opinion to address whether the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus is related to his service, including exposure to warehouse chemicals and herbicide agents.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between the Veteran's condition and his military service or exposure to contaminants at Camp Lejeune.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatic heart disease was granted. The claim for hypertensive vascular disease was remanded.
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