The Veteran's metastatic squamous cell carcinoma and its residuals, including difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice, dry mouth, and loss of taste, are granted as service connected due to exposure to herbicide agents during her Air Force Reserves service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during her service in the Air Force Reserves and concluded that it is at least as likely as not that her metastatic squamous cell carcinoma is causally related to this exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic squamous cell carcinoma, difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice, dry mouth, loss of taste
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- A19000260
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19000260.
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
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- Denied
The Veteran was awarded service connection for allergic rhinitis based on the PACT Act, but an earlier effective date prior to August 10, 2022, is not warranted.
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