The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that none of his service-connected disabilities caused or contributed to his cardiac arrest and cirrhosis of the liver.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding that any of the Veteran's heart diagnoses, including hypertension (which was presumptively associated with herbicide exposure under the PACT Act), caused or contributed to the causes of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Cardiac arrest, Cirrhosis of the liver
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2024
- Citation
- 24031446
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a need for additional evidence, specifically the Veteran's complete service treatment records and service personnel records.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a liver disorder, to include liver cancer as secondary to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, and other than cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including facial injury with six teeth missing, sinus disability, right eye injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, acquired psychiatric disability, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes mellitus type II, and cause of death, as well as Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, to the AOJ for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain relevant SSA records that could provide information pertinent to the Veteran's appeal.
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