The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for cause of death. The Veteran's service-connected osteoarthritis of the spine is found to have contributed substantially or materially to his death from acute coronary syndrome.
The deciding factor: Private physicians provided opinions linking the Veteran's service-connected osteoarthritis with his inability to exercise, which placed excessive stress on his heart and contributed to his development of acute coronary syndrome resulting in his death.
- Claimed conditions
- osteoarthritis cervical spine, osteoarthritis thoracic spine, osteoarthritis lumbar spine, bilateral sacroiliac joint fusion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 10, 2010
- Citation
- 1017190
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 1017190.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) due to presumed herbicide agent exposure in Thailand, and also granted service connection for osteoarthritis lumbar spine as secondary to a service-connected left ankle disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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