The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and thus denied the claim.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence of a service-connected disability contributing to the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiomyopathy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2002
- Citation
- 0218578
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 0218578.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome. The Board also denied an increased rating for the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric condition.
- Partly granted
The appeal was granted for the severance of service connection for hypertension and entitlement to service connection for a heart disability (claimed as cardiomyopathy) associated with hypertension. The claim for an initial compensable rating for hypertension was remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral cataracts, dry eye syndrome, allergic conjunctivitis, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by an in-service event.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of the 10 percent evaluation for left knee meniscus, effective April 21, 2025, and an additional 20 percent rating was also granted.
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