The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that his cirrhosis of liver was caused by alcohol abuse and not related to any service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted for a disability resulting from the veteran's own willful misconduct (alcohol abuse).
- Claimed conditions
- cirrhosis of liver
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 1, 2005
- Citation
- 0524056
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 0524056.
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 Veteran's claims for hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis due to insufficient reasons or bases provided in previous decisions, specifically regarding the presence of haptic encephalopathy and incapacitating episodes.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for migraines was granted from October 1, 2019. The claims for service connection for cirrhosis of liver and hepatitis C were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and remanded claims for service connection for hepatitis C, shin splints, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for cirrhosis of liver, coronary artery disease (CAD), and gout was dismissed due to a concurrent election error.
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