The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of her husband's death and entitlement to dependents' educational assistance benefits, finding no competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
The deciding factor: There was insufficient evidence to establish a causal relationship between the veteran's active service and any of the claimed conditions that contributed to his death or were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory failure, Emphysema, Pneumonitis, Protein calorie malnutrition, Carcinoma of the prostate
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 8, 2004
- Citation
- 0418167
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (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 0418167.
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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.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU with a September 19, 2024 effective date based on his PTSD, emphysema, and COPD symptoms. His diabetes, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss were not found to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 19, 2024.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's COPD is etiologically related to service exposure to herbicide agents, and thus grants service connection for COPD.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was listed as emphysema, but the Board found no causal connection to service or a service-connected disability. The Veteran did not meet the criteria for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318.
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