The Board denied DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that VA did not fail to diagnose and/or treat a preexisting disease or injury, and that the proximate cause of the Veteran’s death was not due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support finding that VA's failure to properly treat the Veteran contributed to his death. The Board found no evidence of wrongdoing by VA personnel and concluded that the catheter was inserted correctly and did not cause significant damage leading to death.
- Claimed conditions
- septic shock, urinary tract infection, quadriplegia, complications of cervical spondylosis with myelopathy
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2020
- Citation
- 20077112
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 20077112.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for extreme fatigue, difficulty breathing, sepsis, and urinary tract infection due to incomplete records and a need for additional medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
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