The Board has determined that the cause of the veteran's death, hepatic failure with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma, is etiologically related to his service-connected type II diabetes mellitus, which was presumed due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the cause of death was granted based on a presumption of exposure to Agent Orange during service and subsequent development of liver disease linked to diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatic failure, recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2004
- Citation
- 0402276
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,055 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0402276.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by a disability incurred or aggravated in service, and the Board denied the claim for service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was respiratory failure caused by hepatic failure, hepatocellular cancer, and chronic hepatitis C infection.,Service connection for the cause of death is granted as his alcohol and substance abuse were secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to insufficient evidence and a need for additional medical opinions. The Appellant requested to withdraw other claims, which have been dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence showing a link between in-service exposure and the Veteran's liver cancer, which was diagnosed after his military service.
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