The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that there was no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's left ventricular failure or underlying heart disease to his period of active service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence relating the veteran's left ventricular failure or underlying heart disease to smoking during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute pulmonary edema, Left ventricular failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 28, 2000
- Citation
- 0017095
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 0017095.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is presumed to be due to herbicide exposure, and service connection for the cause of death is granted under the PACT Act.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death due to acute pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's in-service exposure to DDT.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking the Veteran’s cause of death to a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding direct service connection and aggravation of pre-existing heart disorder. The Veteran's death was caused by hypertensive cardiac vascular disease, but there is no clear evidence that it was aggravated during service.
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