The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and there is no evidence of herbicide exposure during his service in Thailand. Therefore, the claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied.
The deciding factor: There is no direct evidence linking the Veteran’s death to a service-connected condition or to herbicide exposure during his service in Thailand.
- Claimed conditions
- Upper gastrointestinal bleed, Peptic ulcer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19143541
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension was granted under the PACT Act, and his claim for a heart condition to include non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (claimed as ischemic heart disease) was reopened. Other claims were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to peptic ulcer disease, finding no evidence that the disability began during service or was otherwise attributable to any incident of service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical examination to determine if the Veteran's current neck strain is related to his in-service activities.
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