The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by service-connected conditions, and thus denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of death. The claimant is also not entitled to DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 as there is no evidence of continuous total disability prior to or after separation from service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran's death was caused by non-service-connected conditions, and therefore did not meet the criteria for service connection for the cause of death under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1310. Additionally, there is no evidence of continuous total disability prior to or after separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiopulmonary arrest, type B aortic dissection, dilated cardiomyopathy, stroke
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2006
- Citation
- 0607420
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0607420.
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 Board has remanded the case due to a duty to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was linked to his service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran meets the basic medical eligibility criteria for PCAFC benefits due to his need for personal care services based on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other impairment or injury. However, further clinical evaluation is needed to determine if participation in the program is in the Veteran's best interest.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke as there was no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service and the medical opinions were against a nexus to service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for asthma, COPD, pancreatitis, stroke, and left arm weakness (claimed as secondary to stroke) based on the presumption of exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to service or due to in-service exposure.
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