The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability substantially contributed to his death from pneumonia, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis and COPD.
The deciding factor: A VA medical opinion found that the Veteran's active duty service did not cause or contribute substantially to his death. However, it was also found that his previous medications used to treat his bipolar disorder could not have contributed to his death if he was not taking them at the time of his death. The examiner concluded that the Veteran's psychiatric illness did not cause or contribute substantially to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- psychotic depressive reaction, anxiety reaction, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), ventricular tachycardia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2014
- Citation
- 1411391
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 1411391.
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
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