The Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue was not manifest in service or to a degree of 10 percent within one year of separation and is unrelated to service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence indicates that the Veteran's tongue cancer was not related to his military service, particularly due to established risk factors such as smoking and drinking, and lack of evidence linking the solvent exposure at Camp Lejeune to his condition.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 19, 2017
- Citation
- 1728131
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 1728131.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for various service connection claims have been dismissed due to his death while the appeal was pending.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, finding that it is related to active duty service due to exposure to Agent Orange.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of February 1, 2021, for the award of service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue and related disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue and assigned a 20 percent evaluation, but denied service connection for osteoporosis, spinal stenosis, neurocognitive disorder with Alzheimer's, hypertension, and TDIU.
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