The Board denied the veteran's widow's claims for service connection for the cause of his death, DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, and dependents' educational assistance benefits pursuant to Chapter 35 of 38 U.S.C., finding that none of her allegations were supported by medical evidence linking his heart disease or other service-connected conditions to his fatal car accident.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and that he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to lack of continuous total disability rating for 10 years prior to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple blunt force trauma, Cervical spine fracture
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2001
- Citation
- 0109931
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 0109931.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cervical spine disability was previously rated at 30 percent prior to July 15, 2017. The claim for an increased rating in excess of 30 percent is denied.,From September 17, 2017, to June 15, 2018, the Veteran's cervical spine disability was rated at 40 percent. A remand is ordered as there are issues with obtaining medical records and reopening a claim for service connection of IBS.,The petition to reopen the claim for service connection of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is remanded due to outstanding VA treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by multiple blunt force trauma. The Board finds that the RO did not make reasonable efforts to obtain relevant police and private hospital records, which could have provided context for the accident and potentially supported or refuted the appellant's claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection was reopened, and the Board found that new evidence raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating his claims. However, the Board denied all service connection claims due to lack of evidence showing a nexus between current disabilities and service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his causes of death (acute ventricular dysrhythmia, pulmonary fat emboli, multiple blunt force trauma or emphysema) were not related to his active service.,The Board also denied DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, as the Veteran did not meet the criteria for receiving such benefits due to his service-connected disabilities.
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