The Board denied service connection for metastatic neck cancer as it was not shown that the primary site of the carcinoma was in the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea and there is no evidence that the cancer is otherwise related to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The AFIP opinion concluded that if the primary site was conclusively determined to be located in the tonsil, there was insufficient evidence to determine whether there is an association between exposure to herbicides and tonsil cancer. The Board found this conclusion more persuasive than other medical opinions provided.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic neck cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0902026
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · 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 0902026.
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