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Denied

The Board found that the veteran's cause of death, adult respiratory distress syndrome, was not caused or aggravated by his service. The significant contributing condition, lung cancer, also did not have a direct link to his service.

The deciding factor: The immediate and underlying cause of death was adult respiratory distress syndrome due to viral infection, which was not attributable to the veteran's service. Lung cancer, while present at the time of death, had no direct connection to his military service.

Claimed conditions
adult respiratory distress syndrome, lung cancer
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
July 20, 2004
Citation
0419499

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 0419499.

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