The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and determined that the appellant does not have basic eligibility for VA nonservice-connected death benefits.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence linking the fatal hepatoma and hookworm infestation to an injury, disease, or event of service origin. The veteran's recognized guerrilla service does not qualify as requisite service to confer eligibility to the appellant for VA nonservice-connected death pension benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatoma, hookworm infestation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2008
- Citation
- 0812471
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 734 · Granted: 9% (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 0812471.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's liver cancer, which caused his death in August 1997, is presumed to have been incurred due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune during service. Therefore, the cause of the Veteran’s death is granted as service-connected.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have been shown to render him so helpless he is unable to perform self-care tasks, to include frequent adjustment of his prosthetic, dressing, bathing, dispensing of medications, or protect himself from the hazards incident to his daily environment without care or assistance of another person on a regular basis. The Board finds that the criteria for special monthly compensation based on the need for aid and attendance have been met.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a VA medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's hepatoma is etiologically related to service, including presumed herbicide exposure and exposure to hepatitis B.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest due to hepatoma, and the Board finds no service connection is warranted for either condition.
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