The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there was no evidence linking the Veteran's service-connected disabilities to his death.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not show a causal link between the Veteran's service-connected conditions and his death from sepsis, bronchopneumonia, hypertensive heart disease, and aortic aneurysm.
- Claimed conditions
- sepsis, bronchopneumonia, hypertensive heart disease, aortic aneurysm
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20004199
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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including a bilateral eye disability and cardiovascular conditions, based on the Veteran's in-service occupational exposures.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and accrued benefits due to pending asbestos exposure development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease (chest pain and cardiac valve stenosis), aortic aneurysm, and hypertension as these conditions were not found to be etiologically related to the Veteran's active duty service.
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