The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, liver cirrhosis due to alcoholism, as secondary to service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: Competent medical evidence established a link between the Veteran's alcoholism and his PTSD, which contributed substantially or materially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Liver cirrhosis, Alcoholism, Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0910688
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 denied service connection for various disabilities, including a low back disability, neck disability, nerve damage of the neck, back, and hip, liver cirrhosis, stroke, migraines, ovarian disability, heart disability, seizure disorder, and right ear disability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for liver cirrhosis, spleen condition, and thrombocytopenia as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) as there was no evidence linking the Veteran's causes of death to his active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of liver disability to ensure compliance with prior remand directives, specifically regarding an opinion on aggravation by service-connected diabetes and presumed exposure to herbicide agents outside of Vietnam.
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