The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence linking his death to active service or any incident of service.
The deciding factor: Multiple VA clinicians provided opinions stating that the cause of the Veteran’s death is not related to active service and supported their conclusions with clinical evidence from the Veteran's medical records.
- Claimed conditions
- severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, acute on chronic renal failure, dilated cardiomyopathy, morbid obesity, pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20019683
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 20019683.
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 has remanded the case due to a need for further medical examination and opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea and his service, including gas chamber training, as well as any aggravation of the condition by other service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error and obtain a new medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service, his death, and any service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence showing a link between any service-connected disability and the Veteran's death. The conditions listed on his death certificate were not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that it is related to the Veteran's service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities and morbid obesity.
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