The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no direct evidence linking his service-connected trench feet to his death. The VA physician provided a medical opinion in July 2002 but did not address whether the veteran's service-connected conditions caused or contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the veteran's service-connected trench feet and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- trench foot of the left foot, trench foot of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2003
- Citation
- 0309049
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 0309049.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The veteran's service-connected trench foot of both feet is currently rated at 10 percent each. The Board has granted increased ratings to 20 percent for each foot, finding that the symptoms meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 7122.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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