The Veteran's cause of death (cardiac arrest, septic shock, and empyema) is not service-connected. The appellant's income exceeds the maximum annual pension rate for a surviving spouse without dependents.
The deciding factor: Service connection was denied as there was no evidence linking the Veteran’s conditions to his period of active duty or any service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiac arrest, septic shock, empyema
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20006696
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of death, determining that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's fatal conditions were caused by his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's cardiac arrest and hypertension are related to his military service, specifically addressing his complaint of chest pain during service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151, finding no evidence that a service-connected condition caused or contributed to the Veteran's death.
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