The Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected PTSD, which led to substance abuse and ultimately contributed to the fatal conditions.
The deciding factor: PTSD contributed to the Veteran's substance abuse, which in turn caused him to fall unconscious for an extended period of time resulting in the fatal conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Respiratory failure, Sepsis, Hyperkalemia, Acute renal failure, Ischemic right arm with rhabdomyolysis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2014
- Citation
- 1414403
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 1414403.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no competent evidence linking any principal or contributory cause of his death to his service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to obtain an adequate opinion regarding the cause of death and its relation to service, including in-service dental treatment. The Veteran died from acute renal failure, metastatic melanoma, cerebral metastasis, or seizure disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted the appellant's petition to readjudicate her claim for service connection for cause of the Veteran's death due to new and relevant evidence. However, the case is remanded as the AOJ must consider the merits of the claim on its own.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and there is no evidence of a presumptive relationship to herbicide exposure. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death.
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