The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by VA medical treatment and denied DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.
The deciding factor: VA medical care did not cause or contribute to the veteran's death, which resulted from underlying conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory failure, Terminal advanced lung cancer, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Peptic ulcer disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2004
- Citation
- 0405518
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 999 · Granted: 31% (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 0405518.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no competent evidence linking any principal or contributory cause of his death to his service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by acute hypoxic respiratory failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with hypertension as a significant contributing factor. The Board finds that remand is necessary to obtain the Veteran's complete military records and treatment records.
- Dismissed
Your appeal for service connection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death. The Board cannot issue a decision on this claim as it is no longer pending.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as none of the listed causes were related to his period of active duty or presumed exposure to herbicides.
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