The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected arterial and heart diseases contributed to his death from rectal cancer.
The deciding factor: Service-connected hypertension, resulting from stress in service, led to arterial and heart disease which caused debilitation and hastened death.
- Claimed conditions
- rectal cancer, cardiomyopathy, cerebrovascular accident
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 15, 2006
- Citation
- 0617501
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0617501.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
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: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a heart disability, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's heart condition, finding that it is secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for cardiomyopathy and hypertension due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the April 2025 rating decision. The issues are being remanded for further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to April 8, 2024, for the award of service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) with bypass graft, acute, subacute, or old myocardial infarction, automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and cardiomyopathy was denied. The Board found that the effective date should be April 8, 2024, as it is based on the date of receipt of his intent to file a claim for compensation.
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