The Board denied service connection for esophageal cancer, finding no causal relationship between the condition and the Veteran's active duty service or exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions found that the Veteran's esophageal cancer was less likely than not related to his service or toxic exposure, with one private opinion also being inconclusive due to lack of rationale.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2025
- Citation
- 25008538
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (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 25008538.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death due to esophageal cancer, which is presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's prostate disability. The claims for esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus remain denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ committed pre-decisional duty to notify and duty to assist errors in denying the DIC claim for the cause of the Veteran's death. The claim must be remanded to allow the AOJ to make a finding regarding whether the Appellant is considered the surviving spouse, as this is a threshold requirement for DIC benefits.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for esophageal cancer, finding that the Veteran's presumed exposure to herbicide agents during his service near the Korean DMZ more likely than not contributed to the development of the condition.
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