The veteran's death was not caused by VA care, but rather complications from his terminal illness and multiple co-morbidities. The Board found that the veteran did not die as a result of any fault on the part of VA.
The deciding factor: VA provided appropriate management and care to the veteran, but his clinical course was complicated by profound neutropenia with subsequent local and systemic infections leading to sepsis.
- Claimed conditions
- Small cell lung carcinoma, Gram-negative sepsis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2008
- Citation
- 0841486
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 0841486.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran died from pancreatic cancer with liver metastases. The VA physician concluded that his service-connected low back disability did not cause or contribute to his death, and there was no evidence of ischemic heart disease at the time of death.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's lung cancer was not caused by service-connected conditions, and there is no evidence of asbestos exposure during service. The Board determined that the cause of death (small cell lung carcinoma) did not stem from a service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Board found that the veteran's death was caused by lung cancer, which is presumed to be related to exposure to ionizing radiation in service. The claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is granted.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death is not well-grounded because there is no evidence showing a service-connected disability caused or contributed to cause the veteran's death.
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