The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318, as there was no evidence that a service-connected disability caused or contributed substantially or materially in producing the veteran's death, and the veteran was not in receipt of or entitled to receive compensation at the rate of 100 percent due to service-connected disability for a period of ten or more years immediately preceding his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that any of the identified conditions were caused by or related to the veteran's active service, and there was no evidence that a service-connected disability contributed substantially or materially in producing the veteran's death. Additionally, the veteran was not entitled to receive compensation at the rate of 100 percent due to service-connected disability for a period of ten or more years immediately preceding his death.
- Claimed conditions
- squamous cell carcinoma of the neck, coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy, cerebrovascular accident, prostate cancer, basal cell cancer of the skin
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2008
- Citation
- 0814909
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is granted an effective date of April 25, 2014, for service connection for prostate cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of service connection for prostate cancer to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's toxic exposure risk activities.
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