The Veteran's throat cancer, diagnosed as oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma involving the left base of the tongue with metastasis to the left cervical nodes, is granted service connection and presumed due to his exposure to DDT during active duty.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by Dr. Y. and Dr. T. established a nexus between the Veteran's throat cancer and his in-service exposure to DDT, which was accepted as credible given the circumstances of his service.
- Claimed conditions
- throat cancer, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma involving the left base of the tongue with metastasis to the left cervical nodes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19153993
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 19153993.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's request for direct payment of attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in an April 2025 rating decision, as the decision was not a result of a valid appeal and did not award any past-due benefits.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for lung cancer is denied. The claim for throat cancer is granted, and the Veteran is awarded a TDIU rating prior to August 10, 2022.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for tonsillar cancer (claimed as throat and respiratory cancer) due to a lack of evidence showing that his condition began during active service or is related to an in-service injury or disease, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for throat cancer service connection was dismissed due to their death during the appeal process.
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