The Board has determined that the submitted evidence does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim and is cumulative or redundant of previous evidence. Therefore, the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death cannot be reopened.
The deciding factor: The new evidence provided by the appellant and VA did not establish a relationship between the diagnosed heart conditions and ischemic heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- decompensated congestive heart failure, malignant arrhythmia
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2018
- Citation
- 1821070
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 1821070.
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 Veteran died in April 2006 due to complications from decompensated congestive heart failure and acute renal failure. The appellant claims that the death was caused by improper treatment at a VA outpatient clinic for cellulitis, which she alleges should have been treated with antibiotics instead of lotions.
- Denied
The VA denied the veteran's claim for service connection due to a lack of evidence linking his current cardiac disability to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and providing proper notice regarding secondary service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The appeal is granted as his PTSD is now considered service-connected.
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