The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to new and material evidence. The Board also granted service connection based on exposure to herbicides in Vietnam, finding that the veteran had metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil which spread to the lungs.
The deciding factor: The VA medical records indicate that the veteran was exposed to herbicides during his service in Vietnam, and the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the cause of death was primary lung cancer or metastasis from the tonsillar cancer. The Board granted service connection based on this finding.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of tonsil, squamous cell lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2008
- Citation
- 0841821
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 0841821.
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 remands the claim for a lung disability to obtain adequate examinations and medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's current lung disabilities are related to his in-service exposures.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for squamous cell lung cancer and asthma as the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 13, 2019 for the award of Dependency and Indemnity (DIC) for service connection for the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for squamous cell lung cancer and lymph node squamous cell carcinoma have been denied.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for COPD has been remanded, as the issue is related to his service-connected lung cancer.
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