The Board finds that the veteran's death was accidental and not caused by his service-connected right ankle osteomyelitis. The evidence does not support a finding that the veteran's alcoholism, which began well before his surgery in 1992, was related to his right ankle condition.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran's death from hypothermia was accidental and not caused by his service-connected right ankle osteomyelitis. The evidence did not support a finding of causal connection between the veteran's alcoholism and his right ankle condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Osteomyelitis of the right ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 3, 2006
- Citation
- 0603162
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,738 · Granted: 17% (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 0603162.
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