The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and for nasopharyngeal cancer, finding no evidence that these conditions were related to his military service.
The deciding factor: There was no medical evidence linking the Veteran's closed head injury or nasopharyngeal cancer to any incident during his active service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- closed head injury due to probable intracranial hemorrhages, nasopharyngeal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0910101
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0910101.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a VA medical opinion to determine the likely etiology of the Veteran's nasopharyngeal cancer, including whether it is related to his service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for nasopharyngeal cancer, finding that the Veteran's condition is related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for nasopharyngeal cancer, finding that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether it is related to military service, specifically herbicide exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, right and left lower extremity diabetic neuropathy, degenerative disc disease with osteoporosis ('back disability'), and remanded the claim of service connection for nasopharyngeal cancer as due to exposure toxins for the period prior to August 10, 2022.
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