The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected disabilities did not play a role in his death and there was no other disability found to be service-connected at the time of his death.
The deciding factor: The most probative evidence indicates that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities did not cause nor contribute to his cause of death. The August 2018 VA opinion concluded that any additional psychiatric disability following the 2006 perforation was less likely as not caused by the carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA in the course of VA treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain, sciatica with left radiculopathy, degenerative disc disease, rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19164075
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,569 · 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 19164075.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, including degenerative disc disease and scoliosis, due to lack of current disability evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examinations related to the Veteran's lower back condition and surgical scars are inadequate, necessitating a remand for further evaluation.
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