The Veteran died in a private medical facility and the cause of death was listed as cancer of the head and neck, due to metastatic liver disease. The Veteran did not have any service-connected conditions at the time of his death, nor did he have an active pending claim for VA compensation or nonservice-connected pension benefits. Therefore, burial benefits cannot be paid.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from non-service-connected causes and was not in receipt of VA service-connected compensation or nonservice-connected pension benefits at the time of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- cancer of the head and neck, metastatic liver disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2017
- Citation
- 1705912
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 1705912.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for metastatic liver disease and gastric cancer due to a duty to assist error in not obtaining medical records from Darnell Army Medical Center at Fort Hood (DACH) from 1995 to 2020.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several secondary service connection claims for the Veteran's head and neck cancer, including loss of taste, swallowing difficulty, a left neck scar, post-operative nerve involvement of the neck and throat (CN IX and XII), and post-operative nerve involvement of the jaw (CN VII). The remand is due to additional development needed regarding whether the Veteran acquired HPV in service or if his in-service throat infections rendered him more susceptible to contracting HPV.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for gastric cancer, cancer of the head and neck, and an increased rating for a right shoulder disability have been granted. The Veteran also received a 10 percent disability rating for his right shoulder disability.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the Board denied entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to lack of evidence linking his conditions to service.
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