The Veteran's death was caused by alcohol-related liver failure, bleeding from the gut, and lung fluid accumulation. These conditions were not service-connected.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have any service-connected disabilities at the time of his death, and there is no evidence linking these causes to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic alcoholism, liver failure, bleeding from the gut, lung filled with fluid
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2018
- Citation
- 18129909
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 18129909.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and therefore his surviving spouse is denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's non-VA emergency medical expenses incurred on February 14, 2024 are granted as the treatment was for an emergent condition (jaundice) and a VA facility was not feasibly available.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, which was chronic alcoholism.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's heart condition, liver condition, or hepatitis C began during active service or were otherwise related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.
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