The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, finding that his death was not related to any incident during service and no qualifying heart disability manifested within a year after separation. The claim is denied.
The deciding factor: The June 2019 VA examiner found no evidence of ischemic heart disease in the Veteran's medical records and opined that his cerebrovascular accidents were due to risk factors such as male gender, smoking, hyperlipidemia, and a clotting disorder requiring treatment with Coumadin.
- Claimed conditions
- Cerebrovascular accident, Aspiration of food
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19160640
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 19160640.
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to conflicting medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran suffered a cerebrovascular accident or other neurologic disorder, and if so, whether it is related to his service-connected recurrent atrial fibrillation.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for the cause of death, non-service-connected death pension benefits, and accrued benefits due to lack of evidence linking his conditions to military service or entitlement issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board found that the Veteran did not meet the eligibility requirements for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 because he was not service-connected for any disabilities during his lifetime and did not have a continuous period of at least one year prior to death with a total disability rating.
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