The Veteran's death was caused by his exposure to herbicide agents, specifically Agent Orange. The Board found the evidence supported that his gastroesophageal cancer, which led to his death, was due to this exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board resolved doubt in favor of the Appellant and found the Veteran’s cancer and resulting death were related to his exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19182857
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,614 · Granted: 35% (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 19182857.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death was related to his exposure to herbicides in service, and thus service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's esophageal cancer and its relationship to his military service, specifically exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the cause of the Veteran’s death based on VA treatment, finding no fault on the part of VA.,The appeal is also remanded to obtain additional medical records from Huntington VAMC dating back to 1974.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune is related to any current disabilities, including respiratory failure, bowel obstruction, gastroesophageal cancer, and prostate cancer.
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