The Board finds that the veteran's death from cardiac tamponade, which occurred during an attempt at ablation of the ectopic focus, was not the result of negligence, carelessness, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or an event not reasonably foreseeable.
The deciding factor: The VA cardiologist concluded that the perforation of the left ventricle leading to cardiac tamponade during electrical ablation for a known condition (cardiac arrhythmia) was a reasonably foreseeable complication and not due to negligence or fault on the part of VA medical providers.
- Claimed conditions
- Cardiac tamponade, Perforation of the left ventricle
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 10, 2009
- Citation
- 0904863
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 0904863.
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: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death, finding that there is no evidence linking the Veteran's heart condition or emphysema to his active service. The Board also found insufficient evidence to link these conditions to exposure to asbestos and smoke from oil well fires in the Persian Gulf.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran died from cardiac tamponade due to pulmonary embolism, which was caused by deep vein thrombosis. The cause of the Veteran's death is being reviewed for possible service connection.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that new and material evidence had been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, but concluded that there was no competent evidence linking the cause of his death to military service.
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