Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted due to his service-connected tonsillar cancer being identified as the immediate cause of death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was service connected for tonsillar cancer at the time of his death, and it was listed on his death certificate as the immediate cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- tonsillar cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25044895
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 899 · Granted: 45% (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 A25044895.
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 has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for tonsillar cancer (claimed as throat and respiratory cancer) due to a lack of evidence showing that his condition began during active service or is related to an in-service injury or disease, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents and contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for tonsillar cancer and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck are remanded due to a duty to assist error. The Board finds that VA failed to provide a VA examination prior to the May 2020 rating decision on appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for tonsillar cancer was granted with an effective date of January 13, 2020.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for lung cancer and the cause of death due to a duty to assist error. The AOJ will obtain a VA medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's lung and/or tonsillar cancers are related to service, including his service-connected residuals of vocal cord nodules.
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