The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that while he had frostbite, malnutrition, and edema and swelling of the feet during his period as a prisoner of war, these conditions did not result in ischemic heart disease. The Board concluded that there was no direct evidence linking the veteran's death to service.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient evidence to establish a direct link between the veteran's service-connected condition and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- hyperkalemia, edema and swelling of the feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2000
- Citation
- 0032889
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0032889.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was hyperkalemia, hemolytic anemia, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. His Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia substantially contributed to his death.,Service connection for tremors is granted with an effective date of April 11, 2012.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain a new medical opinion due to errors in previous examinations.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the veteran's claims for service connection for several conditions, including diabetes mellitus type II, heart disability, kidney disease with acute renal failure, hyperkalemia, prostate cancer, and blood clot in the left arm. The decision was based on a need to obtain private treatment records.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
Service connection for hyperkalemia is denied. All other issues are remanded for further evaluation.
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