The veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, tonsil, mandible and oropharyngeal wall is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure. The veteran's hearing loss in the right ear is not rated as compensable.
The deciding factor: Service connection for squamous cell carcinoma was established based on presumed Agent Orange exposure during Vietnam service. Hearing loss in the right ear did not meet criteria for a compensable rating under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, tonsil, mandible and oropharyngeal wall, hearing loss in the right ear
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0636052
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,293 · 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 0636052.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for several conditions, including spinal arthritis of the neck and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the neck/upper back. However, tinnitus was granted, and a 20% rating was assigned for left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and denied it for hearing loss in the left ear, while remanding the claim for hearing loss in the right ear due to an inadequate medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, dismissed the claim for hearing loss in the right ear, and denied a compensable initial rating for hearing loss in the left ear. The claim for dry eye syndrome was remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ear hearing loss due to the lack of a current disability, and remanded the issue of service connection for kidney cancer for further development.
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