The Board found no competent and probative evidence to support a connection between the veteran's service-connected disabilities and his death.
The deciding factor: No credible medical opinion was provided that linked the veteran's service-connected conditions to his cause of death, which included sepsis syndrome, acute myocardial infarction, acute stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, renal failure, and palliative care.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic skin ulcer, left inguinal herniorrhaphy scar, hiatal hernia, trichophytosis of the feet, draining lesion at the site of left inguinal hernia surgery, residuals of bilateral inguinal herniorraphies
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0904006
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0904006.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of her exposure history and lack of adequate medical opinions. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU rating is granted with an effective date of March 15, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial disability rating for migraine headaches has been granted at 50 percent. The issue of service connection for hiatal hernia and esophagitis, related to PTSD, is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD with hiatal hernia is rated at a 30 percent disability rating, effective March 12, 2021.
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