The Board denied the appellant's claim to reopen her service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that the new evidence did not relate the cause of death to his military service or any service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The additional medical records provided since the last decision do not establish a causal link between the veteran's military service and the causes of his death (respiratory failure, sepsis, confluent lobular pneumonia, necrotizing colitis).
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, sepsis, confluent lobular pneumonia, necrotizing colitis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 11, 2002
- Citation
- 0201408
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 0201408.
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: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, kidney cancer, is not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service or a service-connected disability.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for extreme fatigue, difficulty breathing, sepsis, and urinary tract infection due to incomplete records and a need for additional medical opinions.
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