The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate should have been considered as filed on December 6, 2012, and an effective date of June 6, 2013 is granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran presented testimony indicating he had a face-to-face conversation with a VA claims representative at the VA medical center regarding his attempt to apply for compensation benefits for squamous cell carcinoma on December 6, 2012. The Board found this conversation constituted an informal claim and considered it filed as of that date.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2018
- Citation
- 1816849
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 1816849.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, concluding that there was no evidence showing that his cancer of the head and neck was caused by a service-connected disability or such disability contributed to his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his cancer and military service or exposure to Agent Orange.
- Denied
The Board found no new and material evidence to reopen the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, as the additional evidence did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by squamous cell carcinoma of the soft palate, but there is no evidence to support a service connection for this condition. The Board found that the cause of death was not related to his military service.
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