The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by service-connected conditions, and denied both claims for service connection for the cause of death and educational assistance benefits under Chapter 35. The appellant's claim for service connection due to Agent Orange exposure is considered 'unknown' as it does not fall within the scope of the appeal.
The deciding factor: The veteran died from liver cancer that was not related to his military service, including presumed Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute renal failure, Hepatorenal syndrome, Metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 18, 2004
- Citation
- 0415739
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 0415739.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to obtain an adequate opinion regarding the cause of death and its relation to service, including in-service dental treatment. The Veteran died from acute renal failure, metastatic melanoma, cerebral metastasis, or seizure disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there are duty to assist errors in the current decision and remands the case for further development, including obtaining an ILER and a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran's death was caused by an intraabdominal hemorrhage, acute myocardial infarction, and acute renal failure. The appeal is remanded to obtain a medical opinion on whether these conditions are related to in-service exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cause of death due to a lack of credible evidence linking the Veteran's cancer, which caused his death, to toxic exposure at Fort McClellan during service. The Board concluded that there was no causal link between the claimed exposure and the Veteran's condition.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.