The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding no relationship between his service-connected disabilities and his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that led to his death.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence showed that there was no relationship between the Veteran's service-connected PTSD and his death-causing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The private physician who treated him at the time of his death did not explicitly find a relationship, while the Chief of Pulmonary Medicine at a VA hospital found that the Veteran's PTSD did not contribute to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Residuals of shrapnel wound to the left lower lobe of the left lung
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2009
- Citation
- 0910090
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as none of the listed causes were related to his period of active duty or presumed exposure to herbicides.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple disabilities, including thoracolumbar spine disability, bilateral knee and hip disabilities, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, COPD, and denied an initial rating higher than 50 percent for MDD with GAD.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type 2, a heart condition as secondary to hypertension, and lower extremity vascular disability as secondary to diabetes mellitus type 2. The claims for peripheral neuropathy in all four extremities and amputation of toes were also granted as secondary to diabetes mellitus type 2. However, the claims for a neck condition, COPD, gall bladder removal, and chronic kidney disease were denied.
- Dismissed
The appeal is dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
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