The Board has determined that the appellant did not submit new and material evidence to reopen her claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as the cause of death was respiratory arrest and anoxic brain damage, unrelated to any service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: No new and material evidence was submitted to link the cause of death to service or a previously service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory arrest, Anoxic brain damage
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 6, 2015
- Citation
- 1528845
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1528845.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder caused substance abuse, which in turn led to his cerebrovascular accident (CVA), tonic-clone seizures, anoxic brain damage, right upper extremity (RUE) tremors, and left upper extremity (LUE) tremors. The Board granted service connection for these conditions.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death on a direct basis, finding that there was not sufficient evidence to establish causation due to VA medical care. The Veteran's death was attributed to transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI), which is a known complication of blood transfusions.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by complications of a blood transfusion, specifically Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI). The Board found that the VA did not exercise proper care in administering the blood transfusions and thus denied service connection for the cause of death.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to an event not reasonably foreseeable, specifically a blood stream infection in his debilitated condition. As such, compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
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