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Denied

The Board found that no service-connected disability caused or substantially contributed to the Veteran's death. The cause of death was determined to be staph sepsis with an underlying cause of aspiration pneumonia, which resulted from a stroke.

The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence showed that none of the conditions listed as causes of death were present during service or until many years after discharge, and these diseases are not attributable to any event, injury or disease during service; nor may any cardiovascular-renal disease be presumed to have been incurred in service.

Claimed conditions
staph sepsis, aspiration pneumonia, stroke, coagulate negative staph bacteremia sepsis, recent stroke, respiratory failure, multiple pulmonary emboli due to acute renal failure, rhabdomyolysis
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
July 13, 2011
Citation
1126434

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 1126434.

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