The Board finds that the Veteran's cause of death is not related to his service, including presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam. Therefore, the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is denied.
The deciding factor: There was no medical evidence linking the causes of the Veteran's death (intracerebral hemorrhage and respiratory failure) to his active service, including presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- intracerebral hemorrhage, respiratory failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2015
- Citation
- 1500159
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 1500159.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically related to toxic exposure during his military service. The case will be reviewed again with a focus on the total potential exposure and synergistic effects of all TERAs involving the Veteran.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II, are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was respiratory failure caused by hepatic failure, hepatocellular cancer, and chronic hepatitis C infection.,Service connection for the cause of death is granted as his alcohol and substance abuse were secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
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