The Veteran's cause of death is now considered for purposes of entitlement to DIC benefits as of July 1, 2012, the first day of his death. The Board found clear and unmistakable error in not considering a presumptively service-connected condition at the time of initial claim.
The deciding factor: VA failed to consider the impact of a presumptively service-connected myocardial infarction on the Veteran's cause of death when initially evaluating DIC benefits, resulting in an earlier effective date.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute renal failure, Hypovolemic shock, Upper gastrointestinal bleeding, Hepatocellular carcinoma, stage IV
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 4, 2024
- Citation
- A24028897
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 A24028897.
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there are duty to assist errors in the current decision and remands the case for further development, including obtaining an ILER and a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not caused by or related to his service-connected conditions, and there is no evidence that the causes of death were due to herbicide exposure. Service connection for cause of death is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran's death was caused by an intraabdominal hemorrhage, acute myocardial infarction, and acute renal failure. The appeal is remanded to obtain a medical opinion on whether these conditions are related to in-service exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
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