The Board found that the Veteran's death was not caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disability and the service-connected disability did not contribute to cause his death.
The deciding factor: A private physician stated that the Veteran's knee injury and surgery predisposed him to DVT and PE, but there was no explanation as to how or why the knee injury and surgery would predispose the Veteran to these fatal problems. The Board found overwhelming evidence supported the conclusion that if indeed the Veteran died of a pulmonary embolism, it was due to one or more of the predisposing factors he listed (immobilization, acute neurologic injury, mechanical ventilation, myocardial infarction) and not due to or materially related to the prior knee condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Pulmonary Embolism, Deep Venous Thrombosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0947739
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 0947739.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for Persistent Depressive Disorder is denied. The Board has also remanded the issue of service connection for Pulmonary Embolism due to predecisional duty to assist errors.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of pulmonary embolism, finding that it is secondary to her service-connected PCOS.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's pulmonary embolism is secondary to his service-connected heart disability and grants service connection for this condition.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board dismissed the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for pulmonary embolism, but the Veteran has since expressed that she did not intend to withdraw her claim. The case is now remanded for further review.
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