The Veteran's cause of death, carcinoma of the pharynx, was not service-connected as it did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period and continuity of symptomatology is not established. The Board found no evidence linking the cancer to his in-service herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: There was no competent medical evidence linking the Veteran's pharynx cancer to his active duty service, including presumed exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- carcinoma of the pharynx
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2022
- Citation
- 22065102
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 22065102.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking the Veteran's carcinoma of the pharynx to his service or a service-connected disability, and there was no indication that the cancer was related to herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected carcinoma of the pharynx, which developed due to exposure to Agent Orange during his Vietnam service. The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
- Granted
The Board found that while the Veteran served in Vietnam and was exposed to Agent Orange, there is no evidence linking his cancer of the pharynx directly to service or exposure. The cause of death due to metastatic carcinoma of the pharynx was attributed to the disease itself rather than a service-connected condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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