The veteran’s widow sought DIC after the veteran died from sepsis shortly after VA hospitalization and prostate biopsy procedures. The Board denied service connection for the cause of death, concluding that the veteran’s service-connected right above-the-knee amputation was not the principal or contributory cause of death. The Court agreed that finding was not clearly erroneous on the record before it, noting that the widow’s own lay assertions could not establish medical causation and that the medical evidence did not show the service-connected amputation caused the fatal sepsis. However, the Court held that the Board erred by failing to consider whether the record raised entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151. Because the evidence suggested the fatal infection and septicemia may have resulted from VA hospitalization and prostate biopsy instrumentation, the Board was required to adjudicate the alternative section 1151 theory under its duty to liberally read the claim. The Court vacated and remanded for readjudication consistent with that duty.

When the evidence reasonably raises that a veteran’s death may have resulted from VA hospitalization or medical treatment, the Board must consider entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 as part of the claim, even if the appellant initially pursued only service-connected cause-of-death benefits.

Stoner is a classic reasonably raised-issue case: if the record shows possible VA-treatment causation, the Board must address section 1151 DIC rather than limit itself to direct cause-of-death analysis.

The decision reinforces VA’s obligation to liberally construe survivors’ filings and adjudicate alternative theories supported by the record. It is especially useful when a death claim involves post-treatment complications, hospital infection, or other allegations that the fatal condition arose from VA care.

Failure to Adjudicate Reasonably Raised Claim

A surviving spouse files for DIC alleging the veteran’s service-connected disability caused death, but the medical records show the veteran died from sepsis following VA surgery. The Board must address both the direct cause-of-death theory and the reasonably raised section 1151 theory.

Use Stoner to argue that the Board must consider section 1151 whenever the record links death to VA treatment, even if the claimant did not expressly cite the statute. It also supports remand when the Board narrows the appeal to the stated theory and ignores an obvious alternative basis for DIC.

EF v. Derwinski, Gardner v. Derwinski, Gilbert v. Derwinski, Espiritu v. Derwinski, Moray v. Brown, Barfield v. Brown, Grottveit v. Brown