The Veteran's cause of death, hepatocellular cancer, was not related to his service or any exposure to herbicide agents. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's in-service symptoms were manifestations of hepatocellular cancer and there is no competent medical evidence linking the Veteran's service, including presumed exposure to herbicide agents, to his death from hepatocellular cancer.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the most likely cause of the Veteran’s hepatocellular cancer was his significant smoking history, which increased his risk by at least 72%. The evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's in-service symptoms were manifestations of hepatocellular cancer or that any exposure to herbicide agents or jet fuels caused it.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatocellular cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071740
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 837 · Granted: 24% (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 20071740.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death, hepatocellular cancer, is being remanded for further evaluation due to insufficient opinions regarding its relation to service and the role of his service-connected prostate cancer.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, hepatocellular cancer, is related to his service-connected exposure to Agent Orange.,The Appellant's income exceeds the maximum annual pension rate for a surviving spouse without dependents.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his hepatocellular cancer is related to his exposure to Agent Orange during service. The decision also vacates the previous denial of accrued benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his death was not due to a service-connected disability and that medications taken for his service-connected conditions did not contribute to his liver disease.
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