The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, as there was no evidence that a service-connected disability caused or contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the veteran's death was most likely related to empyema and infection, not his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to pneumonia, adenocarcinoma of the lung
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0901866
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,377 · Granted: 17% (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 0901866.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a respiratory disability, diagnosed as adenocarcinoma of the lung, atelectasis, and bronchiectasis, to obtain an updated TERA memorandum and new VA opinion.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for adenocarcinoma of the lung, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran and finding that his condition is causally related to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lung condition to obtain an addendum opinion that adequately considers all relevant evidence and factors, including the Veteran's in-service exposure to secondhand smoke.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal to reduce his disability rating for adenocarcinoma of the lung from 100% to 30% has been withdrawn by his representative.
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