The Board found that the veteran's death was not proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability, and therefore denied service connection for cause of death. The appellant did not meet the hypothetical entitlement criteria under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318(b) as she had never been rated totally disabled at any time preceding her husband's death.
The deciding factor: The IME opinion concluded that there was no evidence linking the veteran's lung disease to service or toxic exposure, and his lung disease did not manifest until after he left active duty. The Board found this persuasive and denied service connection for cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2006
- Citation
- 0600927
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
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