The Board found that the veteran's death was not a result of VA hospital care, but rather a reasonably foreseeable consequence.
The deciding factor: VA hospital personnel did not cause the fall due to negligence or fault.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatic cirrhosis, Esophageal varices, Femur fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2005
- Citation
- 0500397
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (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 0500397.
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 remands the claims for service connection for the cause of death and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, as the VA examinations are inadequate.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new medical opinion to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's cause of death, specifically regarding its relation to presumed herbicide agent exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD with esophagitis and esophageal varices is granted an increased disability rating of 30 percent, effective April 8, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for cause of death due to new and material evidence submitted by the appellant. The Veteran's cause of death was caused by gastrointestinal bleed, esophageal varices, hepatocellular carcinoma, end stage liver disease, and liver cirrhosis.,The appellant contends that the Veteran's hepatitis C may be related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus or due to herbicide exposure during service in Vietnam. The Board finds a remand necessary for an addendum opinion on both issues.
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