The Board found that the veteran's death was not related to any service-connected disabilities, and denied entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence showing a relationship between the veteran's service-connected disabilities and his cause of death, which was cardiopulmonary arrest due to end stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and atherosclerotic heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Cardiopulmonary arrest, End stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Atherosclerotic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0904649
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 0904649.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no competent evidence linking any principal or contributory cause of his death to his service.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, listed as cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to myocardial infraction, was not service-connected. The Board found no evidence linking the heart condition to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has restored a 60 percent disability rating for ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, and atherosclerotic heart disease (IHD) effective September 13, 2023. The decision concludes that the reduction in rating from 60 percent to 30 percent was not proper due to actual improvement in the Veteran's condition under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in duty to assist, specifically regarding toxic exposure exposures during service and their impact on the Veteran's cause of death.
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