The Board concluded that the preponderance of the evidence is against the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, and denied the appeal.
The deciding factor: There was no competent medical evidence showing a link between the Veteran's death-causing cardiovascular disease and his service, nor any evidence of hypertension being manifested during or within one year after service.
- Claimed conditions
- atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, anomalous origin of the right coronary artery
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0905914
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 remands the claim for a heart condition to obtain an addendum opinion from a VA clinician regarding whether the Veteran's current heart condition is related to service, including in-service treatment for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected cardiovascular disability, but denied a higher rating from December 15, 2022, through September 14, 2025.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that his hypertensive cardiovascular disease began during service.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a temporary rating of 100 percent for his heart disability from March 1, 2021 to June 1, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 60 percent prior to and after this period was denied.
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