The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused or significantly contributed to by his service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the veteran's fatal pneumonia and underlying cardiovascular and other contributing conditions to his service, any incident therein, or to any service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Pneumonia, Stroke, Arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Arteriosclerotic peripheral vascular disease, Arteriosclerotic heart disease, Alzheimer's type senile dementia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2001
- Citation
- 0124725
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 0124725.
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 arteriosclerotic heart disease is rated at 100% effective October 25, 2024. His prostate cancer residuals are rated at 60% effective October 25, 2024.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that remand is required for several issues, including service connection for stroke and memory loss, as well as an increased rating for PTSD. The AOJ must verify the Veteran's claimed in-service exposures, obtain all relevant treatment records, and provide a medical nexus opinion regarding the nature of his disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that none of the listed causes were related to his military service and no service-connected disability contributed to his death.
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