The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to arteriosclerotic heart disease, which began many years after service and was not caused or worsened by his service-connected pleurisy with empyema and postoperative scar.
The deciding factor: The Board concluded that the primary cause of death (arteriosclerotic heart disease) is non-service-connected and did not substantially contribute to the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary atherosclerotic disease, pleurisy with empyema and postoperative scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2002
- Citation
- 0200089
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 0200089.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for bilateral tinnitus is granted. The claims for vertigo, breast cancer, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, and right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy are remanded due to insufficient development of evidence regarding toxic exposure risk activities (TERA). The claim for coronary atherosclerotic disease is also remanded.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for coronary atherosclerotic disease, finding that the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during his military service qualifies him for presumptive service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to acute renal failure, cardiorespiratory arrest, and coronary atherosclerotic disease as there is no evidence linking these conditions to his time in active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran died of sudden cardiac arrest, with moderate coronary atherosclerotic disease listed as one of the final diagnoses. The Board has determined that presumptive service connection would have been warranted for his arteriosclerotic disease due to Vietnam service and diagnosis. However, the cause of death is unclear, and further medical opinion is needed to determine if the heart disability contributed substantially or materially to the Veteran's death.
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