The veteran's death was not service-connected, and his DIC benefits based on the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 were denied.
The deciding factor: There is no causal link between the veteran's service-connected disabilities or military service and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- residual scar of the right temporal region, residuals of a bullet wound of the right mastoid area, residuals of a hemorrhoidectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0311573
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,055 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0311573.
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: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for residuals of prostate cancer and denied service connection for prostatitis, alopecia areata, and residuals of a hemorrhoidectomy.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and opinions.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for hemorrhoid residuals is being remanded as there may be an additional separate disability evaluation warranted under another diagnostic code.,The Veteran's claims for left knee and right knee disabilities are being remanded due to insufficient evidence of in-service events or diagnoses.,The Veteran's claim for a left ear disability is being remanded due to insufficient evidence of in-service events or diagnoses.,The Veteran's claim for bilateral hand disabilities is being remanded due to insufficient evidence of in-service events or diagnoses.,The Veteran's claim for right-sided flank pain is being remanded due to insufficient evidence of in-service events or diagnoses.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected thoracic and lumbar spine disability most likely contributed to his loss of use of his feet, which meets the criteria for automobile and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's current residuals of a hemorrhoidectomy, to include hemorrhoids, disability is found to be related to service and the claim for service connection is granted.
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