The Board is remanding the case for further development to obtain additional medical records and to provide a VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death. The issues are whether service connection can be established for the cause of the Veteran's death, and whether DIC benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 should be granted.
The deciding factor: The Board needs additional information from VA and private medical records to determine if the Veteran had a primary respiratory cancer or an ischemic heart disease that is service-connected. The cause of death must also be determined, including whether it was due to his service-connected conditions or other causes.
- Claimed conditions
- primary respiratory cancer, ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 12, 2015
- Citation
- 1520338
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 1520338.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's ischemic heart disease is granted as presumptively related to his service in the Gulf War, specifically aboard the USS Chanticleer and USS Mataco.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a heart disability prior to his death is granted as he was entitled to accrued benefits due to the September 1994 claim, which included ischemic heart disease, a covered herbicide disease.
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