The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, as there is no evidence linking any of the causes of death (respiratory failure and nonsmall cell lung cancer) to his military service.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence showing that the Veteran’s in-service respiratory conditions contributed to or hastened his development of COPD and lung cancer, which were the cause of his death.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, nonsmall cell lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19145096
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 439 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19145096.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus type II, are presumed to be related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cause of death was respiratory failure caused by hepatic failure, hepatocellular cancer, and chronic hepatitis C infection.,Service connection for the cause of death is granted as his alcohol and substance abuse were secondary to his service-connected PTSD.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the severance of service connected death benefits was improper and grants the appeal.
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