The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of death and entitlement to DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, finding no new and material evidence to reopen the claim and that the Veteran was not entitled to a total disability rating for at least 5 years prior to his death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the additional lay evidence received did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim as explained above, thus it is not new and material. The Veteran's service-connected disabilities were not rated totally disabling for any time period preceding his death, and he was not entitled to a total disability rating based on hypothetical entitlement.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertensive cardiovascular disease, gunshot wound (GSW) residuals to the left hip and right foot
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0908216
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain a medical opinion under the PACT Act due to the Veteran's exposure at Camp Lejeune.
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