The Board denied the appellant's claim for DIC due to blindness caused by bilateral occipital lobe infarcts, finding that there was no evidence showing a direct causal link between the veteran's blindness and his death. The Board also found that VA treatment in November 1997 did not cause or contribute to the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions indicated that the veteran's bilateral occipital lobe infarcts were not related to his death, nor was there any evidence suggesting that the treatment provided by VA caused his death.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral occipital lobe infarcts
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 23, 2004
- Citation
- 0416465
Veterans Law Judge
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 0416465.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of entitlement to DIC due to the deceased Veteran's blindness secondary to bilateral occipital lobe infarcts and entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151, based on VA treatment in November 1997.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a medical opinion from a cardiologist regarding whether VA hospital care and treatment caused or contributed to the Veteran's death. The issues of entitlement to DIC under both 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 and 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 are also being remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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