The appellant is seeking DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for the cause of her husband's death as a result of VA medical treatment, specifically alleging that his fall at a VA facility caused or hastened his death.
The deciding factor: The Board will need to obtain additional private medical records from relevant healthcare providers and provide an addendum opinion regarding whether the Veteran's death was caused by VA medical treatment and if so, whether it was due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or similar instance of fault on VA's part.
- Claimed conditions
- Fall
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2015
- Citation
- 1552505
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 1552505.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development regarding the incident resulting in the Veteran's death, including obtaining an accident report and local newspaper reports. The cause of death is being considered under a direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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