The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as none of the listed causes were related to his service or a service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The most probative evidence indicated that a service-connected disability did not cause or contribute materially to the Veteran's death, nor was it otherwise related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, lung embolus, congestive heart failure, hypertension or hypotension, patent foramin ovale, bladder cancer, deep vein thrombosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0906552
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bladder cancer, finding it to be related to the Veteran's in-service herbicide exposure.
- 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 effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
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