The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not establish a direct link between any service-connected condition and the veteran's death from end-stage liver disease.
- Claimed conditions
- end-stage liver disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2003
- Citation
- 0319261
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 0319261.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the causes of death and the Veteran's alcohol abuse. The issues are inextricably intertwined, so both must be addressed together.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the Board finds that there is no evidence to support a finding of service connection for the cause of death. The Veteran had Hepatitis C which first manifested decades after separation from service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran died from aspergillus pneumonia and end-stage liver disease, which were not service-connected at the time of his death. The claim for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits is denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim to reopen her husband's service connection for hepatitis C, end-stage liver disease, cirrhosis, and cirrhosis with encephalopathy due to lack of new and material evidence.
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