The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to an event not reasonably foreseeable, specifically a blood stream infection in his debilitated condition. As such, compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran’s prolonged hospital course and subsequent acute demise from respiratory distress and septic shock were not reasonably foreseeable given his complex medical issues.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory arrest, Sepsis, Bacteremia, Left ventricular mass
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19162866
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 19162866.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 granted the appellant's petition to readjudicate her claim for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death due to new and relevant evidence. However, the case is remanded as the AOJ must consider the merits of the claim on its own.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and there is no evidence of a presumptive relationship to herbicide exposure. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to VA carelessness, negligence, or lack of proper skill in not administering prophylactic antibiotics prior to his dental extractions. As a result, DIC benefits are granted.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was hemorrhagic shock with multiorgan failure and acute gastrointestinal bleed, which the Board found not related to his military service or exposure to toxic chemicals. The claim for service connection for cause of death is denied.
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