The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic esophageal cancer, was not caused by his exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The Board found the evidence did not support service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions were conflicting and speculative, with no clear causal link established between the Veteran's exposure to contaminated water and his esophageal cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24025431
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 A24025431.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest and metastatic esophageal cancer. The appellant is recognized as the surviving spouse, but service connection for cause of death remains pending due to insufficient information on in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and for metastatic esophageal cancer, liver cancer, and lymph node cancer as they were not related to the Veteran's service or presumed exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Denied
The Veteran's esophageal cancer and respiratory failure, which led to his death in December 2017, were not service-connected. The Board denied both the claim for service connection for esophageal cancer and the cause of death claim.
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