The Veteran's death was caused by acute and chronic alcoholism, not service-connected conditions.,Accrued benefits for PTSD were denied as the claim was filed more than one year after the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence indicates that the cause of the Veteran's death was due to his own substance abuse, which is not related to military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute and chronic alcoholism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2011
- Citation
- 1100897
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 1100897.
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 Veteran's death was caused by acute and chronic alcoholism, which is considered willful misconduct. The underlying cause of his death was cardiomegaly, but this condition did not result from service-connected disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to alcoholism, which is considered willful misconduct. The case is being remanded for further medical evaluation and opinion regarding whether cardiomegaly contributed to the cause of death.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by acute and chronic alcoholism, which is a symptom of his service-connected PTSD. The Board finds that the Veteran's death meets the criteria for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was due to his own willful misconduct, and service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is not warranted.
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