The veteran's death was due to pneumonia, cerebral vascular accident with left hemiplegia, and Parkinson's disease. The service-connected back disability did not cause or contribute substantially or materially to the cause of death. Therefore, service connection for the cause of death is denied. Dependents' Educational Assistance benefits are also denied.
The deciding factor: The veteran's service-connected back disability was not found to be an immediate or contributory cause of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- post-traumatic arthritis of the lumbosacral spine with sciatic neuritis, low back pain, psychophysiologic musculoskeletal reaction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 24, 2003
- Citation
- 0305522
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 0305522.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and initial ratings were dismissed due to an untimely Notice of Disagreement (NOD) being filed more than one year after the November 2022 rating decision.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for a lumbar spine disability was dismissed due to the untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for GERD, anxiety, and hypertension. The low back pain issue was remanded.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's dry eye syndrome is granted service connection due to an in-service injury. Several other claims for service connection are remanded.
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