The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and thus denied service connection for the cause of his death. The claim for DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 was also denied as there was no evidence showing the veteran had been continuously rated totally disabled due to a service-connected condition immediately preceding his death.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion did not find any relationship between the veteran's malaria in service and his multiple myeloma, which caused his death. The appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death was therefore denied as there was no evidence linking the veteran's service to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple Myeloma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 10, 2006
- Citation
- 0604058
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple myeloma, back disability (secondary to multiple myeloma), and depression, with an effective date of January 26, 2021. The decision also remanded claims related to breast cancer, DEA benefits, and initial ratings.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected multiple myeloma contributed substantially and materially to his death.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 5, 2023, for the award of service connection for multiple myeloma and MGUS but denied a compensable evaluation for hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, finding that his service-connected conditions did not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
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