The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death and eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) under Chapter 35 due to lack of evidence showing a relationship between his service-connected disabilities and his death, as well as failure to meet basic eligibility requirements.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no evidence linking the veteran's service-connected disabilities to his cause of death or contributing substantially to it. Additionally, the appellant did not have a permanent and total service-connected disability at the time of her husband's death, thus failing to meet the basic eligibility criteria for DEA under Chapter 35.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2006
- Citation
- 0639249
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,377 · Granted: 17% (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 0639249.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel disease, neuropathy of lower extremities, neuropathy of upper extremities, rhinitis, sinusitis, prostate cancer, bilateral plantar fasciitis, right knee condition (claimed as bilateral knee injuries), and traumatic brain injury is denied due to lack of evidence supporting the presence or relationship of these conditions to service.,The Veteran's claim for secondary service connection for loss of use of a creative organ and sleep apnea related to an acquired psychiatric disability is also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's GERD and hernia hiatal are related to his service, specifically during active duty or a period of ACDUTRA/INACDUTRA.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including thoracolumbar and cervical spine conditions, preclude locomotion without the aid of a walker, warranting eligibility for specially adapted housing.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for erectile dysfunction and gastroesophageal reflux disease, both as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder.
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