The Board has granted the claim for service connection for cause of death due to exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam, finding that the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma and metastatic lung cancer were related to his herbicide agent exposure.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion provided by Dr. R.W. established a link between the Veteran’s exposure to Agent Orange during service and his diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the post-cricoid region and distal esophagus, which led to metastatic lung cancer resulting in death.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic lung cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the post-cricoid region and distal esophagus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2018
- Citation
- 18128486
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 18128486.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma, which is presumed to be related to his exposure to herbicides during service in Vietnam. The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected metastatic lung cancer contributed substantially or materially to his death.,Entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 was dismissed as moot due to the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's esophageal cancer, which caused his death, was related to his service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the cancer did not manifest to a compensable degree within one year after discharge from service. The Veteran was rated 100% disabled for his mental health disorder less than two years before his death, but he was not rated continuously for ten years preceding death or continuously since release from active duty for at least five years preceding death.
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