The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa and his in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the May 2015 VA treatment record which suggested a possible link between Agent Orange exposure and tonsil cancer, despite it being anatomically close to laryngeal and lung cancers associated with Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20074668
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 20074668.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between his condition and his in-service exposure to Agent Orange or any other service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa due to his exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam. The case is being returned for further development and readjudication based on a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa, which may be linked to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Denied
The Board found that squamous cell carcinoma of the right tonsillar fossa did not manifest in service or within one year of service and is not attributable to an in-service injury, event, or disease. The Veteran's claim for service connection was denied as there was no evidence linking his current condition to his military service.
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