The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer due to exposure to herbicide agents has been granted.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) due to participation in a toxic-related exposure activity (TERA) is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was in approximate balance regarding whether the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his military service in Subic Bay, Philippines. The Board granted presumptive service connection for prostate cancer due to this exposure.,The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's SCC was less likely than not caused by his participation in TERAs, but did not consider exposure to herbicides. Therefore, a remand is required to obtain an addendum TERA medical opinion considering herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- prostate cancer, squamous cell carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2025
- Citation
- 25000577
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 845 · Granted: 39% (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 25000577.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for prostate cancer, bone cancer, and lymph node cancer has been granted. The prostate cancer is presumed due to herbicide agent exposure during service at RTAFB Takhli. Bone cancer is secondary to the service-connected prostate cancer. Lymph node cancer is also considered secondary to prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer but remanded the claim for PTSD due to insufficient verification of stressor incidents.
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