The Board finds that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and thus does not warrant service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: No medical evidence established a causal relationship between the veteran's service-connected disabilities or any other condition and his death from pulmonary hemorrhage due to a pulmonary abscess.
- Claimed conditions
- Pulmonary hemorrhage, Pulmonary abscess
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2003
- Citation
- 0303945
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 0303945.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain a medical opinion on whether the Veteran's cause of death was caused by or etiologically related to exposure to multiple vaccinations during service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected PTSD did not substantially or materially contribute to his death, and that the causes of death were not present during service or until years after discharge from service. The Board concluded that the cause of death was intravenous drug abuse, which is not directly related to service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board finds that the Veteran's death was not caused or hastened by a disability incurred in or aggravated by service. The cause of death listed is pulmonary hemorrhage, due to or as a consequence of coagulopathy, due to or as a consequence of end stage renal disease.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the service member's sarcoidosis, which was aggravated by his military service and exposure to environmental hazards, contributed substantially or materially to his death. The Board finds in favor of the appellant.
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