The Board has determined that the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death should be reopened due to new and material evidence, but it remains unclear whether the veteran's smoking in service contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The May 1998 application was filed before June 10, 1998, when a prohibition on establishing service connection for death based on tobacco use in service took effect. The appellant's claim is therefore not barred by the new law.
- Claimed conditions
- cause of death
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 21, 2000
- Citation
- 0022112
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 0022112.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
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 clarifying opinion on whether the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused his death through obesity as an intermediate step.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to a need for additional evidence, specifically an autopsy report and a medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, to include as a result of exposure to ionizing radiation, due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for cause of death due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error and the need for a VA medical opinion.
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