The Board found that the veteran's pulmonary thromboembolism was not caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill or error in judgment on the part of VA health care providers and was a reasonably foreseeable event.
The deciding factor: The risks were disclosed to the veteran, and he signed an informed consent form. The complication was considered a known risk of knee surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- pulmonary thromboembolism
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2008
- Citation
- 0813147
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0813147.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development and opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed pulmonary disabilities, including whether they are related to service or PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient compliance with previous remand directives and the need for additional opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's pulmonary disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that his bilateral knee disabilities contributed to his wheelchair use and ultimately led to a pulmonary embolism resulting in his death. The decision is based on the benefit of doubt.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a VA Gulf War examination to determine if any identified pulmonary disability and/or respiratory disability are medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses (MUCMI) or related to service, including exposure to Gulf War environmental hazards.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.