The veteran's mouth cancer is service-connected as it is attributable to presumed herbicide exposure during his active military service.
The deciding factor: The treating oncologist linked the veteran's mouth cancer to his in-service exposure to Agent Orange, and there is no evidence suggesting an alternative cause for the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- mouth cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 14, 2008
- Citation
- 0812315
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · 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 0812315.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for mouth, throat, and esophagus cancer based on an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence indicating the cancers were incurred in service.
- Dismissed
Your appeal for throat and mouth cancer has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death. The Board cannot issue a decision on this matter as it is no longer pending.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including DMII and prostate cancer, are remanded due to insufficient evidence of exposure to herbicide agents. The issues of left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, mouth cancer, and kidney or bladder disorder are also remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for mouth cancer, including as due to in-service exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, finding that there was no evidence supporting a relationship between the Veteran's mouth cancer and active service.
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