The Board denied the appellant's claims for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 and dependents' educational assistance pursuant to Chapter 35 of Title 38, United States Code. The Board found that there was no clear and unmistakable error in the April 1954 RO rating decision regarding service connection for a psychiatric disability or any other condition. Additionally, the Board determined that the veteran's death did not result from VA medical care.
The deciding factor: The Board concluded that the veteran’s atrial valve replacement surgery at VA was not the proximate cause of his death in August 1997 and that there was no evidence showing VA fault leading to the veteran's death. The Board also noted that the veteran did not have a permanent and total service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic bronchitis, Atrial fibrillation, Congestive heart failure, Right hand traumatic amputation of three fingers, Gunshot wound to left knee
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 14, 2004
- Citation
- 0409701
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 0409701.
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