The Board found that the Veteran's death was not caused by or substantially contributed to by a service-connected disability, and thus denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of his death. The appellant is also not entitled to Dependence and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion indicated that the Veteran died from pneumonia, which was unrelated to service or any service-connected disability. The Board found this opinion more credible than the amended death certificate.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine, degenerative joint disease of the thoracic spine, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 7, 2010
- Citation
- 1037955
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 1037955.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability was rated at 40% prior to September 28, 2018. From that date, the rating was increased to 50%. The earlier effective date for TDIU is denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher level of SMC was denied as he does not meet the criteria for any additional levels of SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
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