The Veteran's cause of death was esophageal cancer, but the Board found no evidence to support service connection for this condition. The esophageal cancer is not listed as a presumptive disease associated with herbicide exposure in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: There was no medical nexus between the Veteran’s active duty service and his diagnosed esophageal cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 28, 2020
- Citation
- A20019271
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 A20019271.
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 remands the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death to correct predecisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining additional records and a medical nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's esophageal cancer is granted service connection due to herbicide exposure during his service in the Republic of Vietnam.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a left shoulder disability and remanded the claims for service connection for a neck strain, esophageal cancer, and headaches.
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