The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his squamous cell cancer was caused by exposure to herbicide agents during his military service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The positive nexus opinions from qualified medical experts supported the claim that the Veteran's squamous cell cancer was proximately due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents while serving in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell cancer of the head and neck
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19148822
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19148822.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the claim for service connection for cause of death to consider new evidence regarding coronary artery disease and hypertension as potential causes of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received since the August 2009 rating decision, warranting readjudication of the previously denied claim for service connection for squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. The case is being remanded to allow for further examination and consideration.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the case for further development to determine if the veteran was exposed to Agent Orange and to clarify the primary site of his fatal cancer.
- Whole decision: 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.
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