The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his fatal pulmonary aspergillosis was not caused by any incident of service and did not result from a pre-existing condition aggravated during service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's fatal pulmonary aspergillosis developed many years after service and was not related to any incident of service or the in-service lobectomy. The only medical opinion on record weighed against the claim, finding no documented proof that the pre-existing condition contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0904066
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 23, 2011, for the grant of service connection for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia and denied an earlier effective date prior to November 24, 2020, for special monthly compensation based on housebound status.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor based on his credible assertions of repeated presence near the perimeter of Korat RTAFB and exposure to herbicide agents.
- Denied
The Veteran's acute myeloid leukemia was not shown to be related to his military service, including herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Board denied the claim for service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence linking leukemia, a non-B-cell type of leukemia, to service or presumed herbicide exposure. The Veteran's death was attributed to chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
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