The Board found that the cause of the veteran's death was not service-connected, and thus denied both the claim for service connection for the cause of death and the DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing a relationship between the veteran's service-connected disabilities and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiopulmonary arrest, gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal varices, cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2006
- Citation
- 0604238
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,012 · Granted: 24% (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 0604238.
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 case due to a duty to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was linked to his service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by or substantially contributed to by any service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has dismissed the appeal for accrued benefits and has remanded the issue of service connection for cause of death, as there was a duty to assist error related to obtaining a medical nexus opinion regarding in-service herbicide agent exposure.
- 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.
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