The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the appellant did not provide sufficient evidence to support her claims of herbicide exposure or drug and alcohol abuse.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his active service. The cause of death listed on his death certificate does not indicate any service-connected condition as a contributing factor.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiac arrest, hypoglycemia (suspected), sepsis (suspected), diabetes mellitus, HIV, cirrhosis, hepatitis C, thrombocytopenia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20070646
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- 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 remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C and remanded the claim for a heart disability due to insufficient evidence.
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