The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and denied eligibility for Dependent's Educational Assistance. The appellant argued that her child should be eligible due to secondary service-connected conditions, but the Board found no evidence linking the veteran's death to any in-service symptomatology or pathology.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to establish a direct link between the veteran's alcohol dependency and his death, as well as no evidence of any service-connected condition contributing to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcohol dependency, Cardiopulmonary disorder, Hepatic encephalopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 23, 2004
- Citation
- 0416464
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 26% (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 0416464.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, depressive disorder, and alcohol dependency, as the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to duty to assist errors, including the need for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the cause of death and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, as the VA examinations are inadequate.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ failed to properly develop the Veteran's claim for service connection for his cause of death and toxic exposure during service at MCAS Cherry Point. The case is being remanded to obtain an Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) and a Toxic Exposure Risk Activity (TERA) opinion.
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