The Board found no evidence of a service-connected condition that caused the veteran's death due to arteriosclerosis and related conditions. The VA examiner concluded it was unlikely that the fatal illness was attributable to the veteran's active service.
The deciding factor: A VA examiner opined that the veteran's fatal arteriosclerosis was not likely related to his military service based on a review of the medical records, which did not show any indication of heart disease during his service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiac arrhythmia, acute myocardial infarction, arteriosclerosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2003
- Citation
- 0303451
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 0303451.
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: Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for respiratory insufficiency dyspnea, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), cardiac arrhythmia, and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as they have already been granted by a previous VA rating decision.,The Board has also dismissed the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for allergic rhinitis due to lack of evidence showing greater than 50 percent obstruction of nasal passage on both sides or complete obstruction on one side.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's claimed conditions, finding that they are attributable to his time in service and supported by medical opinions. The PACT Act presumption applies.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various conditions due to a failure to notify the Veteran of his right to a hearing before the AOJ prior to issuance of an initial decision on appeal.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings due to insufficient evidence of record, including a lack of clinical VA and private examinations that are necessary to evaluate his service-connected disabilities under applicable rating criteria.
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