The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the Board found no evidence linking his death to military service or Agent Orange exposure.
The deciding factor: Service connection for cause of death is denied as there is no evidence linking the Veteran's death to any service-connected condition or to military service including herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- left ventricular failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 19, 2010
- Citation
- 1006366
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 1006366.
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 dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits based upon service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's IHD was a principal or contributing cause to his left ventricular failure, respiratory failure, metastatic disease, or liver cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to deficiencies in the August 2018 medical expert opinion, which did not adequately address whether the Veteran's ischemic heart disease was a contributory cause of his death. The VA examiner is asked to provide an addendum opinion on this issue.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by left ventricular failure, respiratory failure, metastatic disease, and liver cancer. The VA medical expert concluded that the cause of death is more likely due to advanced liver cancer rather than ischemic heart disease (IHD). As a result, service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death cannot be established.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused by his service-connected asthma, and therefore denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.
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