The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the cause was not related to active service or any incident of service, including as due to a service-connected disability. The Board noted conflicting medical opinions and found insufficient evidence to support the Appellant's claims.
The deciding factor: The VA physicians provided comprehensive medical opinions concluding it was less likely than not that the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD, coronary artery disease, or diabetes mellitus caused or contributed to his death due to significant morbid obesity which significantly compromised his overall health and led to septic shock resulting in his death.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19106632
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a temporary total evaluation because of hospital treatment in excess of 21 days for service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder was withdrawn by the Veteran's representative and is therefore dismissed.
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