The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, nonservice-connected death pension benefits, and accrued benefits. The veteran died from cardiorespiratory arrest with an antecedent cerebrovascular accident. There is no evidence linking these conditions to his period of active service or any other service-related exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran did not have a disability incurred in or aggravated by active service, and there was insufficient medical evidence to establish a connection between his death and military service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiorespiratory arrest, cerebrovascular accident
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2004
- Citation
- 0402936
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (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 0402936.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest and metastatic esophageal cancer. The appellant is recognized as the surviving spouse, but service connection for cause of death remains pending due to insufficient information on in-service exposure to herbicide agents.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there was no evidence linking the Veteran's cardiorespiratory arrest to his military service or a service-connected disability.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected hypertension, cerebrovascular accident, and coronary artery disease are found to be causally linked to his ME/CFS. Service connection for ME/CFS is granted.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for special home adaptation as defined by VA regulations.
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