The Board denied the claim for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence showing a service-connected disability caused or contributed substantially to his death.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions were not in favor of a causal relationship between any service-connected conditions and the Veteran’s death. The VA clinicians found that the Veteran's death was due to myocardial infarction and COPD, which are separate from his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute Myocardial Infarction, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20039285
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 20039285.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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