The Board denied the appellant's request to reopen her claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted. The Board also noted that diabetes mellitus did not contribute to the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: No new and material evidence was presented to support the reopening of the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory failure, Sarcoidosis, Pneumonia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2003
- Citation
- 0301690
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,177 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0301690.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no competent evidence linking any principal or contributory cause of his death to his service.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The appeal as to the proposed severance of service connection for sarcoidosis is dismissed. The Veteran's OSA and BHL are denied, but a compensable rating is granted for BHL.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), obstructive sleep apnea, and sarcoidosis due to potential service connection issues.
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