The veteran died of hypertrophy of the heart, a condition not present until decades after service. Obesity was also noted as a significant contributing factor to his death. The Board denied both the claim for service connection for the cause of death and the eligibility for DEA benefits.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the veteran's obesity or hypertrophy of the heart were caused by any service-connected disability, nor did he have a permanent total service-connected disability at the time of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertrophy of the heart, obesity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2007
- Citation
- 0711684
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 0711684.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The DIC claim is denied because the Veteran was not rated totally disabled for a continuous period of at least 10 years immediately preceding his death. The service connection issue is remanded due to duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to issues with the effective date for service connection and will consider new evidence submitted by the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obesity and obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back, left hip, left knee and left lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities.
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