The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic esophageal cancer, is related to herbicide agent exposure during service. The Board granted the claim for service connection based on presumed exposure to Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: The most probative evidence supports a finding that the esophageal cancer was related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19143500
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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and for metastatic esophageal cancer, liver cancer, and lymph node cancer as they were not related to the Veteran's service or presumed exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for a mental disorder and metastatic esophageal cancer due to insufficient evidence on the etiology of these conditions. The Veteran's aircraft maintenance duties are alleged to be related to his current health issues.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus is found to have contributed substantially or materially to his death from metastatic esophageal cancer, and the Board grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
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