The Veteran's death was caused by myocardial failure, atherosclerotic vascular disease, and cerebral vascular disease. There is no evidence to support that any of these conditions were service-connected.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence linking the Veteran's cause of death to their active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- Myocardial failure, atherosclerotic vascular disease, cerebral vascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21026819
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 21026819.
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 decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and will need to obtain a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's cause of death.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates of March 29, 2016, for the grants of service connection for multiple conditions including hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, scars, kidney disease, femoral artery occlusion, lacunar stroke, erectile dysfunction, cerebral vascular disease, and valvular heart disease.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between any of his fatal conditions and his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected residuals of a compression fracture of the T-12 spinal segment did not contribute to or accelerate his death from colon cancer with metastases, renal failure, and cerebral vascular disease.
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