The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his suicide was due to mental unsoundness associated with depression resulting from his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's suicide was determined to be a result of mental unsoundness associated with depression due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Carbon monoxide poisoning, Automobile running in a closed garage (underlying cause), Traumatic below the knee amputation of the right leg, Postoperative medial meniscus tear of the left knee with anterior cruciate deficiency, Chronic brain syndrome due to trauma, Left medial malleolus fracture, Right humerus fracture, Right femur fracture, Left major radius and ulnar fracture with scarring of the left forearm and hand, Low back pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 13, 2009
- Citation
- 0905417
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · 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 0905417.
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.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran does not meet the criteria for eligibility in the PCAFC program due to insufficient evidence showing a need for personal care services, and thus denied the appeal.
- Denied
The Board has denied the appellant's claims for service connection for treatment purposes only under 38 USC Chapter 17 for a disability of the spine and migraine headaches, as there is no evidence to support a nexus between these conditions and his military service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's back condition is related to his service-connected left knee replacement residuals and grants service connection for this secondary condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for service connection of low back pain due to a motor vehicle accident during service. The Veteran's lay statements and a buddy statement support his assertion that his back pain began after the 1982 motor vehicle accident. However, both VA examiners provided opinions that were inadequate as they did not consider these statements.
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