The Board finds that the veteran's death was caused by VA surgical treatment in September 1996, and concludes that the criteria for entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 are met. The claim for service connection for PTSD is denied as there is no competent evidence showing the veteran had PTSD.
The deciding factor: The VA medical care providers' error in performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy on a decompensated liver disease patient led to postoperative complications resulting in death, meeting the criteria under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for DIC benefits. There is no evidence of PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatic encephalopathy, cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 22, 2006
- Citation
- 0608264
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,177 · 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 0608264.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the cause of the Veteran's death (hepatitic failure, cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis C) is not directly related to his Marine Corps service or any verified in-service exposures. The VA examiner's opinion was found inadequate due to its reliance on the absence of medical literature without a discussion of specific facts.
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