The Board has determined that the cause of the veteran's death may be presumed to be related to his internment as a prisoner of war during military service. The claim for PTSD for accrued benefits purposes is granted.
The deciding factor: The veteran had no service-connected disabilities at the time of his death, but he was treated for hypertension and cardiovascular disease post-service. His death was due to cardio-respiratory failure with an antecedent cause of prostatic enlargement. Given that the veteran served as a prisoner of war during World War II, his death may be presumed related to his internment.
- Claimed conditions
- prostatic enlargement, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, angina pectoris, cerebrovascular hemorrhage
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2005
- Citation
- 0502971
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0502971.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension is related to herbicide exposure during service and contributed substantially to his cause of death.,Service connection for both hypertension and the cause of death (hypertensive cardiovascular disease) is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to VA DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to a need for further evaluation regarding the relationship between any identified pulmonary/respiratory disability, including bronchial asthma, and active service.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for the cause of death and remanded the issue of a compensable disability rating for bilateral defective hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the cause of the Veteran's death is related to his service-connected disabilities, but further medical opinion is needed to determine if these conditions contributed substantially or materially to his death.
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