The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and entitlement to Dependents' Educational Assistance under chapter 35. The examiner concluded that the veteran's cause of death was acute coronary insufficiency, not related to his service-connected varicose veins.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it 'overwhelmingly more likely' that the veteran died from an acute coronary event rather than a complication from his service-connected varicose veins.
- Claimed conditions
- Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, Peripheral vascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2003
- Citation
- 0305060
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,012 · Granted: 24% (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 0305060.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for further development regarding toxic exposures and a VA examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's heart conditions and PTSD were rated at their highest levels (100% for heart conditions, 70% for PTSD) effective December 11, 2019. Additionally, the Veteran was granted benefits related to his disabilities.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of January 9, 2018 for the award of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) based on the cause of death due to acute myocardial infarction. The decision is final as it relates back to the date entitlement arose.
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