The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration, including obtaining additional medical records and providing a VA physician with information to determine if the veteran's fatal Hepatitis C and liver cancer were service-connected. The claims for accrued benefits will also be adjudicated on the basis of evidence available at the time of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The case is being remanded due to the inextricability between the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and his other claims, including those related to Hepatitis C and liver cancer. The VA physician will provide a medical nexus opinion regarding these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2005
- Citation
- 0511280
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 0511280.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is secondary to hepatitis C, has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable initial rating for Hepatitis C, finding that the Veteran's condition was asymptomatic and did not meet the criteria for any higher rating.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's Hepatitis C with cirrhosis is related to service, and therefore grants service connection for these conditions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder is granted as service-connected, with the Board finding it related to his active duty service and aggravated by his service-connected tibia fractures. The claim for hepatitis C is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions regarding its etiology.,Service connection for depressive disorder is established based on direct evidence of a current disability (depressive disorder) that was incurred during active duty service.
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