The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to herbicide exposure during his active service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The Veteran is presumed to have been exposed to herbicides and had a respiratory cancer, diagnosed as lung cancer, which is presumed to be related to his herbicide exposure while serving in the Republic of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- small cell carcinoma of the lung
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25054859
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 32% (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 A25054859.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA opinions obtained on remand are deficient and requires additional clarification regarding the etiology of the Veteran's right arm intention tremor. The claim is therefore being returned to obtain further medical opinions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lung cancer on a presumptive basis due to exposure to herbicide agents while serving in the territorial waters of Vietnam.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and there is no evidence of herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Board therefore denies the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Denied
The Board found that the causes of death (small cell lung cancer or pneumonia) were not directly related to active service. The examiner stated that rheumatic fever does not cause arteriosclerotic heart disease, and therefore, the Veteran's heart disease was not caused by his rheumatic fever infection in the military.
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