The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to atrial fibrillation and pleural effusions, finding that these conditions were not present during service or for many years thereafter, and are not causally linked to service.
The deciding factor: Atrial fibrillation and lung disease were not present during service or for decades thereafter, and there is no evidence linking them to service or a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), residuals of cold injuries or frostbite of the hands and feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 27, 2005
- Citation
- 0501983
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0501983.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's schizophrenia is rated at 70 percent, indicating significant impairment in work and social functioning.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for an effective date prior to August 18, 2016, for a 100 percent disability rating for schizophrenia and for spousal SMC for aid and attendance. The Veteran's claim was erroneously adjudicated by the AOJ and constitutes a free-standing earlier effective date claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been submitted for the claim of entitlement to TDIU, which is being remanded. The issue of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is also being remanded due to conflicting medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for depression, other specified trauma- and stressor-related disorder with alcohol use disorder, severe, and PTSD due to inadequate medical opinions provided by VA examiners.
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