The Board found that the cause of death, arteriosclerotic heart disease, was not incurred in service and did not contribute substantially or materially to cause the veteran's death. The appellant's claim for Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) was also denied.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the veteran had localized edema during captivity, which would be required under VA regulations for presumptive service connection of ischemic heart disease as a former POW. The cause of death and contributing condition were first shown years after separation from service and there is no causal relationship established.
- Claimed conditions
- Arteriosclerotic heart disease, Cardiac arrhythmia, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 3, 2003
- Citation
- 0302046
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 504 · Granted: 31% (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 0302046.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's arteriosclerotic heart disease is rated at 100% effective October 25, 2024. His prostate cancer residuals are rated at 60% effective October 25, 2024.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by acute hypoxic respiratory failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with hypertension as a significant contributing factor. The Board finds that remand is necessary to obtain the Veteran's complete military records and treatment records.
- Granted
The Board has granted a TDIU effective June 10, 2020 and an SMC based on loss of use of a creative organ effective June 10, 2021. The Veteran's service-connected conditions have prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment since June 10, 2020.
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