The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected back disability, aggravated by the use of methadone to treat it. As a result, the Board has granted DIC based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's autopsy showed moderate stenosis in the left anterior descending artery, which can lead to myocardial infarction and arrhythmias that contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- acute ischemic multisystem failure, acute myocardial infarction/arrythmia, coronary atherosclerosis
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19122186
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,772 · Granted: 37% (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 19122186.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted the Veteran's requests to readjudicate his claims for service connection for coronary atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus type II, but has remanded the cases due to new evidence received. The claims are being remanded for toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) medical opinions regarding any possible nexus between the Veteran's claimed exposures in Camp Lejeune and his conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent for chondromalacia patella and left knee instability is denied, but he is granted service connection for coronary atherosclerosis due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's coronary atherosclerosis is remanded due to duty to assist error in obtaining an adequate TERA opinion, and the Board finds it at least as likely as not related to his service, including exposure to burn pits.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of September 1, 1991 for the award of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to apparent entitlement to DIC benefits.
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