The veteran died of hepatocellular carcinoma due to alcohol-related cirrhosis. Service connection for the cause of death is denied as his alcoholism was not service-connected.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted because the primary cause of death, hepatocellular carcinoma, resulted from the veteran's own substance abuse (alcoholism).
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatocellular carcinoma, Alcoholism
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 1, 2001
- Citation
- 0115245
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 0115245.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for cirrhosis, hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastritis, Barrett's esophagus, and obstructive sleep apnea but dismissed the claim for an acquired psychiatric disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma and its relation to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options, and the claim for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether his fatal hepatocellular carcinoma was related to his in-service asbestos exposure and other duties.
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