The appeal is remanded to obtain additional evidence and a medical opinion regarding the cause of the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: Further development is necessary due to conflicting medical opinions and the need for an updated VA medical opinion on the relationship between service and the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, pneumothorax, bullous emphysema
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2008
- Citation
- 0814805
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0814805.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
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 Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II, are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 60 percent for bullous emphysema was denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for such a higher rating.,The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent for bilateral posterior synechia; bilateral dry eye syndrome; left eye band keratopathy; and bilateral pseudophakia (previously rated as uveitis) was denied due to lack of incapacitating episodes during the past year.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for hearing loss was denied because his best corrected visual acuity did not meet the criteria for any higher rating.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED) was denied as there was no evidence linking ED to his military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was respiratory failure caused by hepatic failure, hepatocellular cancer, and chronic hepatitis C infection.,Service connection for the cause of death is granted as his alcohol and substance abuse were secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
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