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
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 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to missing VA medical records and incomplete Social Security Administration (SSA) records. The Veteran's cause of death is related to his service-connected disabilities, but there are questions about whether these conditions existed before or during service.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's death was not proximately due to or the result of a disease or injury incurred in service, or due to a service-connected disability.
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