The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not cause or contribute to his death. The Board found that the conditions causing his death were not related to his service-connected right thigh gunshot wound and cold injuries, nor did they meet the criteria for direct or presumptive service connection.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions indicated no causal relationship between the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and the diseases which caused his death. The examiner found that there was no support in the medical literature for a relationship between cold injury during service and later developing vascular disease, nor did he find any evidence linking the Veteran's service-connected conditions to the onset of his cardiovascular or renal diseases.
- Claimed conditions
- gunshot wound, right thigh, frozen foot (left), frozen foot (right), osteopenia of the left foot associated with frozen foot, demineralization, right foot associated with frozen foot, myocardial infarction due to congestive heart failure due to congestive cardiomyopathy, chronic renal failure, chronic anemia, Alzheimer's disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2009
- Citation
- 0914118
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0914118.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as Alzheimer's disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability or a causal link to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of VA medical opinion regarding the cause of death and failure to obtain SSA disability records.
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