The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, concluding that his squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx was caused by presumed exposure to Agent Orange during his Vietnam service.
The deciding factor: The attending physicians opined that the veteran's cancer of the oropharynx was caused by his presumed exposure to Agent Orange, and a specialist in Agent Orange at the VAMC concurred with this conclusion based on the known association between herbicide exposure and cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0906726
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.
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The Veteran is granted an effective date of August 10, 2022, for the grant of service connection for sinusitis based on the PACT Act.
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The Board granted service connection for left and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, finding that the conditions are related to in-service herbicide agent exposure.
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