The Veteran's cause of death was not related to service, and the low back disability appeal is dismissed as it has been granted as an accrued benefit. The claim for pension benefits remains pending due to incomplete information.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not establish a direct link between any service-connected conditions and the Veteran's cause of death or his low back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- sudden cardiac arrest, acute methamphetamine intoxication, hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19126903
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 880 · Granted: 26% (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 19126903.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, which included atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, is presumed to be related to herbicide agent exposure during service at Fort McClellan. The Board granted the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the initial decision denying service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is incorrect and remands the case to allow for further development, including obtaining medical opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's significant conditions at the time of his death were related to his service, including any toxic exposure risk activities (TERA), and if so, whether they had a material influence on the acceleration of his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a direct relationship between the Veteran's service and his hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or methamphetamine use.
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