Service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death was granted due to herbicide agent exposure and service-connected PTSD contributing substantially or materially to the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion linked the Veteran's metastatic squamous cell cancer of the head and neck to both herbicide agent exposure and service-connected PTSD, considering the lack of other risk factors for cancer.
- Claimed conditions
- metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25102404
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 A25102404.
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 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.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for the Veteran's metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, including laryngeal cancer, and his total laryngectomy. The Board found that there was no link between these conditions and in-service asbestos exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck is presumed to be caused by his in-service exposure to burn pits, granted service connection under the PACT Act.
- Denied
The Board found that the cause of death, metastatic squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck, was not caused by or related to service-connected conditions. The appellant's contention that SCC was due to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam was not supported by the VA opinion obtained.
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