The Board granted service connection for throat cancer, skin cancer as secondary to throat cancer, and scars of the face, neck and shoulder, as secondary to skin cancer. The claim for an earlier effective date for PTSD was denied, and the claim for a heart disability was remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence supported the presumption of exposure to herbicide agents during service, which linked the Veteran's throat cancer to such exposure. Skin cancer and scars were found to be secondary conditions related to the throat cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- throat cancer, skin cancer, scars of the face, neck and shoulder
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 3, 2024
- Citation
- A24063147
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.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for skin cancer was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claim for squamous cell carcinoma was granted.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the claims.
- Partly granted
Service connection for prostate cancer on an accrued basis was granted based on the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine, finding competent and credible evidence at least approximately balanced between service-connected prostatitis and prostate cancer. Service connection was denied for stomach cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer, the Veteran's cause of death, and dependency indemnity compensation benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for skin cancer, including as due to participation in toxic exposure risk activity (TERA), finding no evidence of the disease during service or within a year after separation and noting that the earliest diagnosis was nearly 25 years post-service.
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