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
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2006
- Citation
- 0600927
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,055 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0600927.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's adult daughter seeks reimbursement for accrued benefits due to her father's death. The appeal is remanded as the appellant did not fully understand what costs may be reimbursed, and she was required to provide additional documentation of expenses incurred during her father's final illness.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found no link between the Veteran's in-service spontaneous pneumothorax and his current diagnoses of COPD with emphysema and asthma, thus denying service connection for a pulmonary condition.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the appellant's service as a Recognized Guerilla is not qualifying service for VA nonservice-connected pension benefits, and thus the claim must be denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking his death to military service or a service-connected disability.
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