The Board has granted service connection for thyroid cancer, finding that the condition is due to in-service herbicide exposure. The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's thyroid cancer is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows a relationship between herbicide exposure during service and an increased risk of thyroid cancer, with conflicting studies on the specific link.
- Claimed conditions
- Thyroid cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19104742
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for COPD, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, thyroid cancer, and hypertension due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a neck disability and remanded claims for asthma, pulmonary embolism, thyroid cancer, acute pancreatitis, breast cancer, hypertension, left knee condition, right knee condition, and an acquired psychiatric disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus Type II, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and thyroid cancer as there was no evidence of in-service incurrence or a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for blindness in right eye and granted readjudication of claims for sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension, and thyroid cancer based on new evidence.
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