The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death and for burial benefits greater than $1,034.00 due to their inextricably intertwined nature with the cause of death claim.
The deciding factor: The cause of death claim is pending and requires a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death, which includes lung cancer and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Pneumonia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19113682
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19113682.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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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