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
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an arterial disorder, peptic ulcer, and GERD. The claims were denied due to a lack of evidence supporting current diagnoses or a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for service connection for GERD has been dismissed as the February 2022 rating decision already granted the benefit sought. The peptic ulcer claim is remanded due to a lack of adequate medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the cause of death and whether peptic ulcer is related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to further development being required regarding the severity of the Veteran's GERD and ulcers.
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