The Veteran's cause of death was not due to a service-connected disability, and hepatitis C was not incurred in or aggravated by service. The Board denied both the claim for service connection for the cause of death and the claim for service connection for hepatitis C for accrued benefits purposes.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the Veteran's service to his cause of death or to his hepatitis C, and the appellant's speculative opinions were not considered probative enough to establish a link between service and these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C, cirrhosis, renal failure, cardiac arrest, anoxic encephalopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19104727
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a VA medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including medications taken therefor, were a substantial or contributing factor in his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C, jaundice, hypogeusia, and hyposmia as there was no evidence of a current disability during the pendency of the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C and remanded the claim for a heart disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hepatitis C, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
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