The Board found that VA did not commit an error in judgment by prescribing Xanax, and the death was not caused by a disease or injury suffered as a result of medical treatment provided by VA. The cause of death is listed as multiple drug intake with previous cocaine use.
The deciding factor: Post-mortem toxicology reports showed evidence of prescription medications including alprazolam (Xanax), which were in the veteran's system at the time of his death, but not prescribed by VA. The medical opinion obtained to address these assertions weighed against the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple drug intake with previous cocaine use and concomitant severe coronary artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2006
- Citation
- 0631430
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · 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 0631430.
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