The Board has granted the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to lung cancer, which was presumed to be caused by exposure to herbicide agents during service. The amended death certificate states that squamous cell lung cancer and tonsillar squamous cell cancer were the underlying causes of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the presumptive service connection criteria for lung cancer based on herbicide agent exposure have been met, and given the conflicting evidence regarding whether the lung cancer was a primary site or metastasis, the Board resolved in favor of the appellant due to resolution of reasonable doubt.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell lung cancer, tonsillar squamous cell cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 20, 2024
- Citation
- A24048312
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 A24048312.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lung disability to obtain adequate examinations and medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's current lung disabilities are related to his in-service exposures.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for squamous cell lung cancer and asthma as the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 13, 2019 for the award of Dependency and Indemnity (DIC) for service connection for the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for squamous cell lung cancer and lymph node squamous cell carcinoma have been denied.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for COPD has been remanded, as the issue is related to his service-connected lung cancer.
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