The Board finds that the veteran's cause of death, acute myocardial infarction and coronary athesclerosis, was not caused by or substantially contributed to by his period of active duty service. The claim for DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 is also denied as there is no causal relationship between the cause of death and any service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran's acute myocardial infarction and coronary athesclerosis were not related to his military service, and thus did not meet the criteria for service connection under direct theory. The claim for DIC was also denied as there is no causal relationship between the cause of death and any service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- acute myocardial infarction, coronary athesclerosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 15, 2004
- Citation
- 0419007
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,500 · Granted: 17% (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 0419007.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an addendum opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, specifically addressing whether in-service toxic exposures led to hypertension and ultimately caused his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as there was no evidence linking his conditions to his active-duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, specifically related to in-service exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary fibrosis, congestive heart failure, and arterial hypertension were not related to his military service.
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