The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected back disabilities were a contributory factor in his death.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion found no direct link between the Veteran's service-connected conditions and his death, but the private physician provided an opinion linking the cervical spine surgeries to the acute respiratory failure and resultant death within a reasonable degree of medical certainty.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute respiratory failure due to aspiration pneumonia, Vertebral osteomyelitis with staphylococcal bacteremia
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25058781
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right lower extremity sciatica associated with the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral spine strain, but remanded claims for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and sleep apnea.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for anxiety but denied it for sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's sleep apnea was less likely than not related to his active service or service-connected acquired psychiatric condition.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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