The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability and denied both the cause of death claim and the PCT service connection claim. The suicide appears to have been due to willful misconduct, which is a bar to service connection.
The deciding factor: The suicide was determined to be due to willful misconduct, constituting a bar to service connection for the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT), Alcoholic cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 13, 2008
- Citation
- 0839025
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 0839025.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his alcohol-related causes of death were etiologically linked to a service-connected disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there is no evidence to support a relationship between the Veteran's military service and his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) as there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and his condition did not manifest in service or within one year thereafter. The Board found that the Veteran had not been exposed to an herbicide agent, such as Agent Orange, during his active duty.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused or contributed to by a service-connected disability, and there is no evidence linking the causes of death (acute renal failure, alcoholic cirrhosis, hepatorenal syndrome, end stage renal disease) to his military service.
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