The Board found no evidence linking the cause of the veteran's death to his military service, and denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: There was no competent medical evidence linking any disease or disability etiologically related to service to the cause of the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute respiratory failure, Cerebrovascular accident, Probable thrombosis of the left middle cerebral artery with right hemiparesis, Upper gastrointestinal bleeding
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2003
- Citation
- 0305866
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 127 · Granted: 25% (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 0305866.
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 has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death due to acute respiratory failure and subdural hematoma, finding that no service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially to his death. The Veteran served in Vietnam but there is no evidence of a service-connected condition related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death (acute respiratory failure, atrial fibrillation, and/or hypertension) is related to his active duty service, including from exposure to toxins and chemicals from open burn pits during the harsh winters in Korea. The Board finds a pre-decisional duty to assist error and remands for obtaining a VA medical opinion.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was due to acute respiratory failure, with pulmonary edema, acute renal failure, renal cell cancer, and coronary artery disease as contributing causes. The VA examiner found that the asbestos exposure did not contribute to these conditions.
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