The veteran's death was not caused by service-connected conditions. Service connection for chronic liver disease due to Agent Orange exposure is denied, but the claimant received an increased rating for his lumbar strain.
The deciding factor: The cause of death was determined to be unrelated to any service-connected condition and there was no evidence linking the veteran's liver disease to Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Liver Disease, Lumbar Strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- November 28, 2005
- Citation
- 0532032
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 0532032.
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
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- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU from October 12, 2016 to November 12, 2018 and from January 1, 2019 to July 22, 2019 due to service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by heart failure, which the Board finds may be service-connected through secondary service connection due to obesity resulting from his service-connected PTSD and back disability. However, VA failed to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether obesity is a substantial factor in causing heart failure.
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