The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as there was no evidence that a disability incurred in or aggravated by service caused or contributed substantially to his death.
The deciding factor: The May 2025 VA opinion concluded that the Veteran's hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease was less likely than not caused by service due to the lack of evidence of chronic hypertension during and after service, and the natural fluctuation in blood pressure readings.
- Claimed conditions
- atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 16, 2025
- Citation
- 25009247
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 25009247.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease was caused by his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not related to service-connected conditions, and the claim for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused or contributed to by service-connected disabilities, and therefore his cause of death is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that further evidence is needed to determine if the Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected conditions or if he had an acquired psychiatric disability, such as PTSD, which may have contributed to his alcoholism and cardiovascular disease.
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