The Board granted restoration of the 100 percent disability rating for right tonsil squamous cell carcinoma and denied restoration of a 30 percent disability rating for loss of teeth with rampant decay, while also granting restoration of special monthly compensation.
The deciding factor: The July 8, 2020 Rating Decision that reduced the disability evaluation from 100 percent to noncompensable was found to be improper due to clear and unmistakable error, leading to a grant. The July 11, 2022 Rating Decision reducing the rating for loss of teeth with rampant decay was proper as it contained a clear and unmistakable error.
- Claimed conditions
- right tonsil squamous cell carcinoma, loss of teeth with rampant decay
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2025
- Citation
- A25104667
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,455 · Granted: 23% (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 A25104667.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for various cancers and lymph node conditions, finding that the evidence does not support a link to service or any presumptive exposure. The cancers were diagnosed many years after separation from service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for right tonsil squamous cell carcinoma, finding that there was no evidence of a direct relationship to his military service and noting that smoking tobacco use is a known risk factor for this type of cancer.
- Denied
The Veteran's right tonsil squamous cell carcinoma is not service-connected as it did not occur during his military service and there is no evidence linking the condition to herbicide exposure. The Board denied the claim based on lack of in-service disease or injury, absence of a current disability related to service, and insufficient evidence to link the cancer to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of VA efforts in obtaining relevant private treatment records and addressing the Veteran's theory of entitlement related to jet fuel exposure. The Veteran is also seeking service connection for his right tonsil squamous cell carcinoma, which may be secondary to herbicide, asbestos, or jet fuel exposures.
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