The Board has reopened the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to new and material evidence submitted since the last denial. The cause of death was determined to be an enterocaval fistula due to peptic ulcer disease, with cardiac air embolism as a contributing factor.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the appellant provided new and material evidence linking the veteran's cause of death to his service-connected conditions or any other incident of his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage, Duodenal ulcer with entesocaval fistula, Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 30, 2004
- Citation
- 0424161
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 0424161.
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 death was caused by acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage due to chronic ethanolism, with COPD contributing but not causing the death. The Board found no evidence linking any service-connected disability or exposure to asbestos to the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death and any asbestos exposure in service.
- Denied
The Board found no evidence linking the cause of death to service-connected conditions or any incident of service, including exposure to Agent Orange. The cause of death was attributed to an enterocaval fistula due to peptic ulcer disease (Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome) complicated by acute intestinal hemorrhage.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and providing proper notice regarding secondary service connection.
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