The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the cause of his death is not otherwise related to service. Service connection for the cause of death is denied.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence linking the Veteran’s death to a service-connected condition or to VA care that resulted in negligence or an unforeseeable event.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal variceal hemorrhage, hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis of liver, hepatitis C virus, diabetes mellitus II
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19181302
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · 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 19181302.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for hepatocellular carcinoma, which is secondary to hepatitis C, has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus II and associated conditions have produced impairment inconsistent with obtaining or following substantially gainful employment from June 12, 2017, to March 5, 2024. The Board grants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) for this period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in developing evidence related to possible ionizing radiation exposure and TERA participation. The claim will be reconsidered with proper development of this information.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 10, 2018 for the establishment of service connection for diabetes mellitus II (DMII), finding that the Veteran's condition was directly related to his military service and exposure to toxic substances.
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