The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as a disability of service origin did not cause or contribute to his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish that any service-connected disability was related to the Veteran's cause of death, and there was no credible evidence of in-service exposure to herbicides or other environmental factors that could have contributed to his condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Lobar pneumonia, Chronic respiratory failure, Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2025
- Citation
- 25006915
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 25006915.
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 death was not due to his service-connected degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine with associated radiculopathy.,The cause of the Veteran's death (chronic respiratory failure, acute on chronic diastolic heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and cirrhosis) is not considered to be related to his active service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected disabilities, specifically Meniere’s syndrome and the cardiovascular conditions. The Board found that these conditions aggravated his heart issues and contributed to his cause of death.
- 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 linking any service-connected disability to his death.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration, including obtaining a VA medical opinion on the cause of death and issuing a supplemental statement of the case for death pension benefits.
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