The Veteran's cause of death was not due to service or any incident of service, and his service-connected kidney stones did not contribute to his death.
The deciding factor: Clinicians have been consistently unable to link the Veteran's service-connected renal and ureteral calculi to any other conditions that he experienced during his lifetime, such as coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, and gout. Clinicians have also been unable to link any of these conditions to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiopulmonary arrest, probable pulmonary embolus or myocardial infarction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 6, 2015
- Citation
- 1528872
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 1528872.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was linked to his service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for cause of death and DIC benefits due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's conditions, including his thyroid cancer and diabetes. The appellant is seeking service connection based on Agent Orange exposure.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a need for further medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's cause of death and hypertension are related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service.
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