The veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected condition, and his surviving spouse is not entitled to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the cause of death is denied as there is no evidence linking any service-connected disability to the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- Anoxic Encephalopathy
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2003
- Citation
- 0315312
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0315312.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was determined to be related to his service-connected PTSD, which contributed to the sepsis caused by untreated dental issues. The Board granted service connection for the cause of death and denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the submission of additional evidence regarding the Veteran's post-service symptoms and related medical research, which was not considered by the previous VA examiner.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's PTSD contributed to his heart disease, which in turn caused his death. Therefore, service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cause of death was anoxic encephalopathy secondary to cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction and failure, acute renal failure needing dialysis, and respiratory failure needing ventilator support. The appellant asserts that the Veteran's service-connected PTSD caused his heart disease, which led to his death. The Board finds that VA records may contain relevant information and requests for such records be made. Additionally, a medical opinion is needed to determine if the Veteran had an ischemic heart condition before his death and whether it was related to his service-connected PTSD.
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