The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability and denied both his claim for service connection for the cause of his death and his eligibility for Chapter 35 benefits.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence to relate any service-connected disability or incident of service to the cause of the veteran's death, and he did not die as a result of a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- renal failure, hepatic failure, arteriosclerotic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 22, 2000
- Citation
- 0016632
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 0016632.
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 claim for a VA medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including medications taken therefor, were a substantial or contributing factor in his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including renal failure, sleep apnea, erectile dysfunction, blackout spells, swelling of the eyelids, diminished eyesight, sleep deprivation, and bladder incontinence. The Board also denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for left ankle tendonitis associated with residual scar.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease, finding that the evidence is within approximate balance that it was caused by toxic exposure during service in Southwest Asia.
- Dismissed
The appeal regarding service connection for renal failure was dismissed because the claim was fully granted by a VA rating decision, which resulted in the Veteran being awarded service connection for kidney transplant status-post acute renal failure.
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