The Veteran's death was not due to service-connected conditions, and the appeal for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied as there are no 10 years of total disability prior to death. The cause of death is remanded for further review.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's death was not due to service-connected conditions, and the appeal for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied as there are no 10 years of total disability prior to death.
- Claimed conditions
- Prostate cancer, Respiratory conditions
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20068709
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board restored the Veteran's 100 percent disability rating for his service-connected prostate cancer, effective September 1, 2024.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a higher disability rating for PTSD and granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, while denying service connection for prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, and nuclear sclerosis and dry eye syndrome.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and higher initial rating were dismissed due to concurrent election of review options.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted an earlier effective date of August 10, 2022, for the grant of a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU).
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