The Board found that the veteran's military service and/or his service-connected disabilities did not cause or contribute to his death. The immediate cause of his death was cardiorespiratory arrest, which is linked to diagnosed heart disease but not directly related to his military service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking any of the listed conditions on the veteran's death certificate to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiorespiratory arrest, tuberculosis meningitis, pneumonia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2003
- Citation
- 0301560
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0301560.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest and metastatic esophageal cancer. The appellant is recognized as the surviving spouse, but service connection for cause of death remains pending due to insufficient information on in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and pneumonia due to insufficient evidence in the record. The Veteran's current diagnoses are not supported by the medical records provided.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there was no evidence linking the Veteran's cardiorespiratory arrest to his military service or a service-connected disability.
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