The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, attributing it to herbicide exposure during his military service.
The deciding factor: The August 2018 VHA opinion found that the Veteran’s exposure to herbicides in service contributed to his liver disease and thus caused his death due to decompensated cirrhosis.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic liver disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19178812
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,612 · Granted: 16% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19178812.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected disabilities contributed to his cause of death. The examiner is requested to address if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities were a principal or contributory cause of death and if they contributed substantially or materially to the Veteran's death.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection and rating issues related to various conditions, including obesity, chronic renal dysfunction/kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, Grave's disease, chronic liver disease, TMJ disorder, sleep apnea, back pain, dermatographic urticaria residuals from anthrax vaccine, and hemorrhoids.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board denied the request for an extension of time to file an appeal and dismissed the attempted appeals of the February 2020 and September 2020 rating decisions.
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