The Veteran's death was determined to be due to willful misconduct, but the Board found that his death was not caused by such misconduct. The Appellant is granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death based on residuals of traumatic brain injury and a psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence established that the Veteran had TBI and a psychiatric disorder at the time of his death, which were related to his combat injuries, and these conditions contributed to his impaired judgment and alcohol use. The Board found this not to be willful misconduct.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic Brain Injury, Psychiatric Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 28, 2011
- Citation
- 1136469
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 1136469.
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 initial ratings for anxiety disorder and TBI were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board granted entitlement to SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(t) effective January 21, 2019, based on the appellant's need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected TBI.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected traumatic brain injury is being remanded due to a procedural error.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected Traumatic Brain Injury did not meet the statutory threshold for special monthly compensation (SMC) at either the housebound or aid and attendance rates due to lack of permanent housebound status or need for regular aid and attendance.
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