The Veteran's death was attributed to respiratory failure, with underlying causes of congestive heart failure and cancer of the throat. Cancer of the throat is not a recognized disease associated with herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: Cancer of the throat did not manifest during service or within one year after separation from service, and there is no evidence linking it to service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Herniated nucleus pulposus with left sciatic neuropathy, cancer of the throat
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 14, 2016
- Citation
- 1628194
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 1628194.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for nerves (physical condition) due to a lack of evidence showing the presence of a current disability. The claims for cancer of the throat and nerves (mental condition) are remanded as there may be relevant private treatment records that have not been obtained.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the cause of death and its relation to service. The Appellant needs to provide additional private treatment records, and a VA clinician will need to review these records to determine if the Veteran's cause of death was misdiagnosed or related to in-service exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for throat cancer to the Under Secretary for Health for a dose estimate of the Veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation, and if necessary, to the Under Secretary for Benefits for further consideration.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of cancer of the throat, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression as they have been granted in a previous rating decision.
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