The Board has remanded the case for a VA medical opinion to determine whether the Veteran's cause of death, including respiratory failure, pneumonia and sepsis, is related to his active duty service or another already service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The appellant argued that the Veteran's service-connected lumbar degenerative disc disease (DDD) and sciatic nerve paralysis caused him to be bedridden, leading to sacral ulcers and sepsis. The Board found a reasonable possibility of aiding in substantiating the claim with a medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, pneumonia, sepsis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2014
- Citation
- 1419300
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 1419300.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, kidney cancer, is not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service or a service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
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