The Veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, but he did not have a total disability rating at any time. Therefore, the claims for service connection for cause of death and for accrued benefits are denied, as is the DIC claim.
The deciding factor: None of the requirements for DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 were met due to the Veteran not having a total disability rating at any time.
- Claimed conditions
- acute myelogenous leukemia, eczema of the hands and feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19125389
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 Board has remanded the case due to a need for clarification regarding the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically whether his diabetes contributed to or caused his aspergillosis pneumonia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development and a determination on whether exposure to ionizing radiation in service caused or contributed to the Veteran's acute myelogenous leukemia.
- Granted
The Board finds the veteran's period of service to be etiologically related to his acute myelogenous leukemia, and acute myelogenous leukemia to be the cause of the veteran's death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, concluding that there was no evidence linking his heart disease or leukemia to his military service.
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