The Veteran's death was caused by his hepatitis C infection, which contributed substantially and materially to his fatal hepatocellular cancer. The Board finds that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the hepatitis C was related to service.
The deciding factor: There is a relative equipoise in the evidence regarding whether the Veteran’s hepatitis C was related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatocellular cancer, Cardiac arrest
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2018
- Citation
- 18155146
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 18155146.
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 determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and therefore denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death, hepatocellular cancer, is being remanded for further evaluation due to insufficient opinions regarding its relation to service and the role of his service-connected prostate cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain relevant SSA records that could provide information pertinent to the Veteran's appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding no evidence that a disability incurred in or aggravated by service either caused or contributed substantially to his cardiac arrest.
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