The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as a service-connected disability did not cause or contribute substantially or materially to his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not establish that a service-connected disability, including diabetes mellitus, caused or contributed materially or substantially to the Veteran's death, or that the cause of his death, COPD, was otherwise related to his active service or any incident therein.
- Claimed conditions
- Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0906487
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · Granted: 17% (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 0906487.
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 service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as a disability of service origin did not cause or contribute to his death.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected disabilities, specifically Meniere’s syndrome and the cardiovascular conditions. The Board found that these conditions aggravated his heart issues and contributed to his cause of death.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found no causal connection between the Veteran's death and any hospital care, medical or surgical treatment provided by VA. The evidence does not support a finding of fault on VA's part.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was not due to or the result of service-connected disabilities, and there is no evidence linking his colitis disability to service.
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