The Veteran's cause of death is respiratory failure, which was caused by pneumonia and klebsiella bacteremia. The Board finds that there was no formal claim or pending appeal at the time of the Veteran's death for accrued benefits. The case is remanded to provide a VA medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's conditions were caused by or became worse due to VA treatment.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no formal claim or pending appeal for accrued benefits at the time of the Veteran's death, thus denying entitlement to such benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory failure, pneumonia, klebsiella bacteremia, metastatic small bowel adenocarcinoma
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2026
- Citation
- A26023668
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 A26023668.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's causes of death were not found to be service-connected, as there was no credible evidence linking the conditions to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and pneumonia due to insufficient evidence in the record. The Veteran's current diagnoses are not supported by the medical records provided.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
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