The veteran died in February 1989 due to cardio-pulmonary arrest and aspiration. The appellant contends that the cause of death was bronchial pneumonia asthma, which she claims was incurred or aggravated during his military service. However, there is conflicting information regarding the veteran's marital status at the time of his death and whether he lived with the appellant continuously from the date of marriage to the date of death.
The deciding factor: The appellant has not established continuous living with the veteran prior to his death, which may affect her eligibility for benefits under certain provisions.
- Claimed conditions
- bronchial pneumonia, asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 22, 2006
- Citation
- 0629962
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 0629962.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for service connection for asthma, as he did not file a claim or intent to file a claim within one year of his separation from service.
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