The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the Board finds that there is no evidence to support the contention that VA care or treatment proximately caused his death. The claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the Veteran’s pneumonia, which led to his death, was a result of his service-connected disabilities or any other fault on the part of VA in providing medical care.
- Claimed conditions
- Pneumonia, Loss of use of both upper extremities (Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18136771
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 18136771.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that none of the listed causes were related to his military service and no service-connected disability contributed to his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for cause of death, finding that his service-connected conditions did not contribute to his death. The evidence showed well-controlled heart symptoms prior to death and no causal relationship between anxiety and cardiopulmonary disease or renal failure.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the criteria for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 were not met.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain an adequate opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death, specifically addressing toxic exposures during service and submitted medical literature.
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