The Board found no evidence linking the cause of the veteran's death to his service, including malaria. Therefore, service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is denied.
The deciding factor: There was no competent medical evidence showing a link between the veteran's death and any event or etiology in service, particularly not related to malaria which he had during active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- malaria, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2004
- Citation
- 0400416
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0400416.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient detail in a previous VA medical opinion regarding whether malaria or scarlet fever during service contributed to the Veteran's death. The case must be returned for further evaluation.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for TDIU prior to October 18, 2018 due to a lack of evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Granted
The Veteran's emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other spontaneous pneumothorax status post thoracotomy is rated as 100% disabling since February 28, 2024. His major depressive disorder is separately rated at 70%. The Board finds that the Veteran meets the criteria for special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for malaria was dismissed because the November 17, 2025 request for Board review came before the September 16, 2025 higher-level review of the same issue had been completed.
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