The Board granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that the veteran's service-connected tubercular pleurisy was a contributory factor in his death.
The deciding factor: The weight of competent medical evidence demonstrated that the veteran's service-connected tubercular pleurisy contributed to his death by exacerbating any pulmonary involvement with metastatic malignancy and hastening his time of death.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiopulmonary arrest, malignant melanoma metastasis to lung and liver, deep vein thrombosis phlebitis, chronic, tubercular pleurisy
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2008
- Citation
- 0816485
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 251 · Granted: 25% (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 0816485.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 due to a duty to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was linked to his service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for cause of death and DIC benefits due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's conditions, including his thyroid cancer and diabetes. The appellant is seeking service connection based on Agent Orange exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a need for further medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cause of death and hypertension are related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service.
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