The veteran's death was not caused by active service or VA medical treatment, and he did not have a claim pending for the benefits sought at the time of his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not show that the cause of the veteran's death was due to active service or VA medical treatment, and there is no new and material evidence presented to reopen any previously denied claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Discoid Lupus Erythematosus, Dissociative Reaction, Passive-Dependency Reaction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- April 1, 2003
- Citation
- 0306278
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0306278.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's Systemic Lupus Erythematosus was pre-existing and worsened during service, thus meeting the criteria for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's disability rating for systemic lupus erythematosus was reduced from 100% to noncompensable effective February 1, 2021. The Board found that the reduction was proper and denied restoration of the 100% rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD and depressive disorder. The claims for discoid lupus, malabsorption disorder, Sjogren's syndrome, and low back disability are remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied an increased rating for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and has found the Veteran's right hand arthritis claim to be remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The decision on the right hand arthritis claim will need to be reconsidered after obtaining necessary medical opinions.
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