The Board found that the veteran's service-connected conditions did not cause or contribute to his death, and thus denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: There was no medical evidence linking the veteran's fatal sepsis, pneumonia, or osteomyelitis to his active service or any service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid spondylitis, healed fracture of the right wrist, healed fracture of the 4th right metacarpal, defective hearing, healed fracture of the right patella, healed fracture of the left patella
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 23, 2007
- Citation
- 0715327
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 0715327.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
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: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a TDIU on an extraschedular basis prior to December 6, 2012 due to insufficient evidence showing that his service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's motion to vacate a 1979 Board decision regarding defective hearing and tinnitus was dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for defective hearing and hypertension due to additional VA medical records being added to the file after a previous SSOC. The Veteran's claim for increased rating for defective hearing prior to July 28, 2020 is remanded for a retrospective medical opinion. The claim for service connection for hypertension is also remanded as there was not substantial compliance with the August 2019 remand directive.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and his appeal for TDIU, including on an extraschedular basis, is denied.
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