The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that the veteran's service-connected cholecystectomy and exposure to Agent Orange were not related to his primary biliary cirrhosis which led to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions concluded that there was no causal relationship between the veteran's service-connected conditions or herbicide exposure and his primary biliary cirrhosis, which was determined to be the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of cholecystectomy, primary biliary cirrhosis with accompanying conditions of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, pneumonia, and septic shock
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2008
- Citation
- 0813164
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0813164.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbar strain, a rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of cholecystectomy, and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss. A 20 percent rating was granted for laparotomy scars, abdomen.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for dental residuals of full mouth rehabilitation and remanded the claims for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for GERD with hiatal hernia, a separate compensable rating for cholecystectomy residuals, a compensable rating for recurrent uveitis, and separate ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for various secondary conditions are remanded due to predecisional duty-to-assist errors.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for migraine headaches has been withdrawn. The claims for diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of bilateral upper and lower extremities, sleep apnea, breast cancer residuals, cholecystectomy residuals, right knee disability, left knee disability, left foot injury, acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD and depression), traumatic brain injury with residuals, memory loss, chronic fatigue syndrome, and tinnitus have been dismissed. The claim for service connection for temporomandibular joint disorder is remanded.
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