The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318, and nonservice-connected death pension benefits.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish a link between the veteran's cardiovascular disorder and his military service or any service-connected disability, nor was there sufficient evidence of a causal relationship between the veteran's PTSD and his cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Cardiovascular disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2009
- Citation
- 0903111
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0903111.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board denied entitlement to accrued benefits and DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 because the Veteran did not meet the statutory requirements. The Board remanded entitlement to service connection for cause of death and survivor's pension benefits to obtain a medical opinion on whether the Veteran's service-connected PTSD aggravated his sleep apnea.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral ear disorder and remanded the remaining issues for further development.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for hypertension and a cardiovascular disorder, finding that the conditions are due to herbicide exposure during service. The Veteran's type II diabetes mellitus is also service-connected.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is granted service connection under the PACT Act due to exposure to burn pits. Service connection for a cardiovascular disorder is denied as there is no evidence of its onset during active service or being related to his service.
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