The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus caused his cardiomyopathy, which rendered him less capable of resisting pulmonary fibrosis and contributed to his death. Service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is granted.
The deciding factor: Diabetes mellitus was found to have caused the Veteran's cardiomyopathy during hospital admission before his death, rendering him less capable of resisting pulmonary fibrosis and contributing to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiomyopathy, diastolic dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19121185
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,934 · Granted: 41% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19121185.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, including as secondary to his service-connected left knee osteoarthritis, has been denied. The Board found that the evidence does not support a finding of direct service connection or secondary service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a heart disability, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's heart condition, finding that it is secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for cardiomyopathy and hypertension due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the April 2025 rating decision. The issues are being remanded for further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician.
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