The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, as there was no medical evidence or competent opinion linking a cardiovascular disease to any incident of service and no evidence that diabetes played a causative role in his death.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence or competent opinion linking a cardiovascular disease, which is not apparent until many years post-service, to any incident of service. Additionally, the physician who amended the death certificate indicated that he would have to resort to speculation in order to determine whether diabetes played a causative role in the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, residuals of carcinoma of the prostate, degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, chronic renal insufficiency, malaria, a status-post bunionectomy of the right small toe, a cyst on the right thigh, hemorrhoids
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2009
- Citation
- 0903591
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0903591.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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