The Veteran's cause of death (pneumonia, sepsis, and respiratory failure) is not related to service or any service-connected disabilities. The Board finds that the preponderance of evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's service-connected conditions contributed substantially or materially to his death.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion found no causal relationship between the Veteran's service-connected conditions and his cause of death, concluding that other non-service connected conditions were more likely responsible for his condition and eventual demise.
- Claimed conditions
- pneumonia, sepsis, respiratory failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 27, 2017
- Citation
- 1742868
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 1742868.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, kidney cancer, is not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service or a service-connected disability.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
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