The Board granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death based on a medical opinion submitted in May 2000, effective March 29, 2000. The earlier effective date claim was denied as it is legally impossible to get an earlier effective date than when the reopened claim was received.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the December 1973 rating decision denying service connection for the cause of death was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous, and that the March 29, 2000 effective date is correct as it is based on the date of receipt of the application to reopen the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- idiopathic cardiomyopathy
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- May 30, 2003
- Citation
- 0310532
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 673 · Granted: 27% (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 0310532.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for SMC based on need for aid and attendance or being housebound is remanded due to the lack of a recent VA examination addressing his ability to care for himself.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for TDIU is remanded due to the need for additional VA and non-VA treatment records, including those from University Nursing and Rehab Center. The SSA hearing transcript must also be obtained.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's cardiac disability, including idiopathic cardiomyopathy, atrial flutter, slow AV nodal re-entry, and supraventricular tachycardia, was caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus. Therefore, service connection for this condition as secondary to diabetes mellitus is granted.
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