The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that his death was not caused by any service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence indicated that the veteran's death was due to hepatic failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, or cirrhosis, which were not related to his military service or any service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2003
- Citation
- 0332117
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 0332117.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hepatocellular carcinoma as the evidence did not support a link to in-service exposure or injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of March 8, 2024 for the grant of service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus but denied earlier effective dates for atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure. The other claims were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, for purposes of entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), as further development is necessary.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer residuals and cirrhosis, both presumed to be related to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
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