The Board found no evidence that the veteran's tongue cancer was caused by service or a service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence showing that the veteran's tongue cancer had its onset during service or within any applicable presumptive period. The Board also found insufficient evidence to establish a secondary service connection between his schizophrenia and substance abuse.
- Claimed conditions
- carcinoma of the tongue
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 11, 2006
- Citation
- 0628408
Veterans Law Judge
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 0628408.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for carcinoma of the tongue is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error. The VA must obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding private treatment records from Dr. Tijani or his oncologist, and request a medical opinion regarding whether the cancer had its clinical onset during active-duty service or is otherwise etiologically related to it, including exposure to an herbicide agent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for carcinoma of the tongue, finding that a VA medical opinion is needed to address the etiology of his condition and considering whether it is at least as likely as not attributable to his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient rationale in the previous VA examination regarding the Veteran's oropharyngeal cancer and exposure to burn pits. The claim will be reviewed again with a new opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the cause of death and the need for additional development.
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