The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death as there was no evidence that a service-connected disability was either the principal or contributory cause of his death.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence establishing that a service-connected disability was either the principal or a contributory cause of the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, coronary artery atherosclerosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0901059
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pulmonary hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as well as claims for Dependency and Indemity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, accrued benefits, and additional nonservice-connected burial benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's prior medical history.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis was dismissed as the Board had already granted it in a previous decision, and the AOJ assigned an effective date of August 30, 2022.
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