The veteran's death was not service-connected, and he did not meet the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318.
The deciding factor: The veteran had a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) since November 16, 1999, but was not rated as totally disabled by VA for at least 10 years immediately preceding his death.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with chronic myofascitis of the lumbar spine with osteoarthritis and compression fracture at L-1, coccygodynia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- June 15, 2006
- Citation
- 0617448
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0617448.
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder alone rendered her unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment, and she is entitled to a TDIU for accrued benefits purposes on and from December 19, 2015. Additionally, the Veteran meets the criteria for SMC based on statutory housebound criteria for accrued benefits purposes.
- Granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder alone rendered her unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment, and she is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claim for service connection for cause of death is remanded due to new and relevant evidence. The VA will readjudicate this issue in the first instance, taking into consideration all of the evidence of record within the applicable period.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's coccygodynia did not have onset during active service and is not otherwise etiologically related to active service, thus denying his claim for service connection.
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