The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, an acute myocardial infarction, was not caused or contributed to by his in-service cardiorespiratory arrest due to a postoperative compromise of the airway. The VA medical opinion concluded it was unlikely that the July 1976 in-service cardiorespiratory arrest resulted in any heart disorder leading to death.
The deciding factor: The Board found the VA medical opinion on causation to be more probative than the Appellant's lay statements, and determined that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute myocardial infarction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 25, 2017
- Citation
- 1701874
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 1701874.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran died due to an acute myocardial infarction. The Board has identified errors in the toxic exposure documentation and requests a remand for further investigation and medical opinion regarding the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran's death was caused by an intraabdominal hemorrhage, acute myocardial infarction, and acute renal failure. The appeal is remanded to obtain a medical opinion on whether these conditions are related to in-service exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for acute myocardial infarction has been dismissed as the January 2026 VA Form 10182, which appealed the October 2025 rating decision, was received concurrently with a supplemental claim (VA Form 20-0995).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to acute myocardial infarction, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. The claims for heart disability and hypertension were also denied as they are not considered service-connected.
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