The Board finds that the Veteran's death was not caused or substantially contributed to by any service-connected disability, and thus, denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the Veteran's fatal conditions (congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease) to his period of active service. The significant contributing conditions (renal failure, peripheral vascular disease, colon cancer metastasized to lung with pneumonectomy) are not shown to be related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive Heart Failure, Ankylosing Spondylitis of the S1 Joints, Bilateral, Residuals of Post-Operative Pilonidal Cyst
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2010
- Citation
- 1029565
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 1029565.
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 service connection for congestive heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and pulmonary fibrosis as these conditions were not related to the Veteran's service, including his exposure to Agent Orange.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but denied service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, sleep apnea, and erectile dysfunction.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for COPD, obstructive sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, and hypertension as not being related to the Veteran's active duty or secondary to his service-connected GAD. However, congestive heart failure was granted due to a secondary relationship with his service-connected GAD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's service-connected PTSD caused or aggravated his cardiovascular diseases, which were listed as contributing causes of death.
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