The Board has granted the appellant's request to reopen her claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death. The evidence shows that the Veteran's service-connected chronic bronchitis with asthma contributed substantially or materially to his death, and the Board finds this link sufficient to grant service connection.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion established a causal relationship between the Veteran's service-connected conditions (chronic bronchitis with asthma) and his cause of death (congestive heart failure).
- Claimed conditions
- chronic bronchitis with asthma, coronary artery disease (CAD), congestive heart failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20000608
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for left foot bursitis and coronary artery disease, as well as special monthly compensation based on housebound status.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a heart condition to obtain an addendum opinion from a VA clinician regarding whether the Veteran's current heart condition is related to service, including in-service treatment for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of a 60 percent rating for coronary artery disease (CAD) effective June 1, 2021, and increased ratings for mid-sternum scar, left lower extremity (LLE) scar, and migraines to 10%, 20%, and 50% respectively, all effective October 26, 2020.
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