The Board has granted service connection for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus as a result of presumed exposure to herbicides during service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: Three physicians, including a VA physician, concluded that it is as medically sound to find in favor of causation of the veteran's esophageal cancer by herbicide exposure as it is to find that his cancer was not caused by herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- adenocarcinoma of the esophagus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2006
- Citation
- 0638470
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · Granted: 24% (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 0638470.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cancer was caused by his exposure to herbicides in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for cause of death due to new and material evidence. However, the case is remanded as there is insufficient evidence to determine if esophageal cancer was caused by exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, finding that it is due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and herbicide agents in Vietnam. The decision resolves all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Veteran's adenocarcinoma of the esophagus, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus are granted as service-connected due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents during his Vietnam service.
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