The Board denied the Appellant's request for an effective date prior to May 16, 2011 for DIC benefits based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The RO initially granted DIC benefits from July 10, 2012 but later changed it to May 16, 2011. The Board found that no earlier effective date was warranted as there was no informal or formal claim prior to May 16, 2011.
The deciding factor: The Appellant did not file an informal or formal claim for DIC benefits prior to May 16, 2011, the date she submitted a VA Form 21-534. The Board found that her November 2004 telephone conversation with a VA employee regarding death pension benefits did not constitute a valid claim.
- Claimed conditions
- atherosclerotic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2015
- Citation
- 1544895
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 1544895.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted DIC benefits based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected prostate cancer and its treatment caused his death due to side effects from Zytiga.
- Denied
The Veteran's death due to cardiac arrest and atherosclerotic heart disease was not related or attributable to his military service, thus denying the claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and atherosclerotic heart disease are denied. The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for hypertension and atherosclerotic heart disease due to insufficient medical opinions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for intrahepatic bile duct carcinoma and gallbladder, service connection for atherosclerotic heart disease, and service connection for fatigue have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal.
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