The Veteran's death was not caused by VA's carelessness, negligence, or similar instance of fault in providing medical treatment. The Board found that the MRSA infection did not result from VA's care.
The deciding factor: The August 2022 VA medical opinion concluded that the MRSA infection was a common complication of the surgical procedure and beyond the control of the provider, even with utmost care.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute respiratory distress syndrome, Hypoxemia, Septic thrombophlebitis with septic emboli to the lungs, MRSA infection
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2023
- Citation
- 23006358
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 23006358.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 is denied because the VA did not cause any additional disability, and there was no fault on their part in providing care.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for six surgical scars and insomnia, as secondary to the service-connected intervertebral disc syndrome with lumbosacral strain status post laminectomy. It also granted a 50% disability rating for the intervertebral disc syndrome with lumbosacral strain status post laminectomy, effective July 31, 2017, and a TDIU due solely to this condition.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between his military service and/or herbicide exposure and his cause of death.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 and service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to lack of evidence linking the causes of death to active service.
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