The Veteran's hypopharynx cancer was not incurred or aggravated in service and may not be presumed to have been incurred or aggravated in service due to herbicide exposure. The claim for service connection is denied.
The deciding factor: Hypopharynx cancer is not on the list of diseases associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, and there is no medical evidence associating the Veteran's hypopharynx cancer to his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypopharynx cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19126534
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,020 · Granted: 19% (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 19126534.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case for additional development, including providing a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected herbicide exposure contributed to his death from cancer of the Hypopharynx.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Granted
Service connection for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is granted. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction is dismissed.
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