The cause of the veteran's death is presumed due to in-service herbicide exposure, specifically Agent Orange. The primary cancer site was likely the lung, one of the presumptive cancers associated with Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: Cancer of the lung is one of the enumerated diseases for which the presumption of in-service herbicide exposure applies to veterans who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam era, and the veteran is presumed exposed to Agent Orange during service.
- Claimed conditions
- neuroendocrine tumor, cardiorespiratory failure
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 31, 2006
- Citation
- 0627507
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · 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 0627507.
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.
- Denied
The Board found no evidence linking the Veteran's causes of death to service or a service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death, to include cardiorespiratory failure and stomach cancer, due to a duty to assist error in not ensuring an adequate medical opinion was obtained.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, cardiorespiratory failure and COVID-19 pneumonia, is not etiologically related to his service or any exposure during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found pre-decisional duty to assist errors and remanded the claims of entitlement to service connection for cause of death, DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, and DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to insufficient information in the record.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.