The Veteran's cause of death, liver failure due to hepatocellular carcinoma, was caused by his service-connected anxiety disorder which led to alcoholism.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the cause of death granted as the Veteran's anxiety disorder with secondary alcoholism contributed substantially and materially to his liver cancer and subsequent death.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcoholism, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Liver failure
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0914199
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 0914199.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for cirrhosis, hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastritis, Barrett's esophagus, and obstructive sleep apnea but dismissed the claim for an acquired psychiatric disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma and its relation to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options, and the claim for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether his fatal hepatocellular carcinoma was related to his in-service asbestos exposure and other duties.
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