The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and therefore denied the claim for service connection for the cause of his death.
The deciding factor: The underlying cause of death was colon cancer, which is not service-connected. The liver disease, diagnosed as cirrhosis, began many years after service and is not linked to any incident of service.
- Claimed conditions
- Colon Cancer, Cirrhosis of the Liver
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2000
- Citation
- 0028474
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0028474.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities were not of such severity to prevent him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation, and his TDIU claim was denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to insufficient evidence showing that VA's failure to diagnose the Veteran's colon cancer resulted in additional disability.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was due to respiratory failure from lung cancer, which was metastatic from his primary colon cancer. The Board found that the Veteran's lung cancer and colon cancer were not related to service or any in-service exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the veteran's service and his death.
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