The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there is no evidence linking his service-connected conditions to his cause of death.
The deciding factor: The VA opinions found that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities did not contribute substantially or materially to his cause of death (lung mass, probable primary lung cancer) and secondary conditions (cerebral vascular accidents, failure to thrive).
- Claimed conditions
- lung mass (probable primary lung cancer), cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs), failure to thrive
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18151407
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 18151407.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, as there is a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to correct errors in the duty-to-assist process. The Board will consider new evidence on whether the Veteran's service-connected diabetes contributed to his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death is granted presumptively due to herbicide exposure, specifically Agent Orange. Accrued benefits are denied as no claim was pending at the time of his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected parasomnia contributed to his development of myocardial infarction, which ultimately led to his death. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
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