The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for esophageal cancer, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service. The Board also noted that the Veteran did not have any manifestations of esophageal cancer during service or within one year after separation.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient medical evidence to establish a connection between the Veteran's current esophageal cancer and his military service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The condition was not noted in service records and there is no post-service continuity of symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19102842
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death to correct predecisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining additional records and a medical nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's esophageal cancer is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure during his service in the Republic of Vietnam.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal cancer other than esophageal cancer and stomach cancer, brain cancer, and prostate cancer. The issues of entitlement to service connection for esophageal cancer, metastatic esophageal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, and liver cancer were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a new medical opinion to address the etiology of the Veteran's esophageal cancer, considering his in-service herbicide agent exposure and service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder.
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