The Board has determined that the veteran's cause of death was not caused or significantly contributed to by his service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis, and therefore, he is denied service connection for the cause of death. The appellant is also not eligible for a nonservice-connected death pension based on the veteran's recognized active service. There is no legal entitlement to accrued benefits as there were no pending claims at the time of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not support a finding that the veteran's pulmonary tuberculosis caused or significantly contributed to his cause of death, which was congestive heart failure and ischemic cardiomyopathy. The VA physician's opinion in November 2002 concluded that the pulmonary tuberculosis did not contribute to the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive heart failure, Ischemic cardiomyopathy, Ileus (bowel obstruction), Massive ascites, Minimal hydrothorax, Minimal pulmonary tuberculosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2006
- Citation
- 0616423
Veterans Law Judge
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 0616423.
What this means for you
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's heart conditions may be related to his service-connected sleep apnea and/or generalized anxiety disorder, but further examination is needed to determine causation.
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