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.
The deciding factor: The persuasive weight of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran's esophageal cancer was incurred in or etiologically related to service. The 36-year gap between service and the onset of symptoms, as well as the Veteran's reported history of smoking tobacco, are factors that tend to weigh against a finding of continuous symptoms after service separation and cancer manifested to a compensable degree in the first post-service year.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic esophageal cancer, liver cancer, lymph node cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2025
- Citation
- 25008214
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for cancer of the hip bone and liver cancer is dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board grants an earlier effective date of March 24, 2023, for the awards of service connection for lung cancer, kidney cancer, and liver cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for colon cancer, liver cancer, and prostate cancer due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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