The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death due to cholangiocarcinoma, a type of liver cancer. The evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's cholangiocarcinoma was related to his service, specifically to in-service exposure to liver flukes and/or Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there are two highly probative medical opinions regarding the cause of death, one weighing in favor of the claim and one against. The reasonable doubt created by this relative equipoise in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Cholangiocarcinoma, Liver cancer
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2018
- Citation
- 18151148
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 18151148.
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 Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for liver cancer, finding that there is no evidence to support a causal relationship between his in-service exposures and his diagnosed liver cancer. The medical opinion provided by VA concluded that the liver cancer was not caused by or aggravated by any of the conditions listed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's liver, lung, brain, and bone cancers in relation to his service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for liver cancer and cholecystectomy to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors related to toxic exposure risk activities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new VA addendum opinion to determine if the Veteran's liver cancer and hepatitis C are related to his active service, including exposure to agent orange.
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