The Veteran's cause of death, specifically his head and neck cancer, was causally related to his herbicide exposure during service. The Board granted DIC based on this finding.
The deciding factor: The private examiner provided opinions that the Veteran's disability was likely caused by his carcinogen exposure (Agent Orange).
- Claimed conditions
- Head and neck cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21061867
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,185 · Granted: 28% (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 21061867.
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 granted service connection for the cause of death, finding that head and neck cancer was related to herbicide agent exposure during service in Thailand.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration, including obtaining a VA medical opinion on the cause of death and issuing a supplemental statement of the case for death pension benefits.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's cause of death was attributed to head and neck cancer, but his service-connected laryngeal cancer and basal cell carcinoma of the lower lip were not considered contributory causes. The Board found no evidence of herbicide exposure or environmental toxin exposure during service that could support a presumption of service connection for his cancers.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his cancer and other conditions were not related to his military service or herbicide exposure.
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