The Veteran's cause of death was not service-connected due to a primary cancer at the base of the tongue, which is not subject to presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and denied DIC benefits under § 1318.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish that the Veteran's tongue cancer was related to his in-service herbicide exposure or otherwise due to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Metastases to the lung from a primary cancer of squamous cell carcinoma of the base of the tongue
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2013
- Citation
- 1342857
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 1342857.
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