The Board finds that alcoholism due to service-connected PTSD substantially contributed to the Veteran's cause of death, acute necrotizing pancreatitis. The decision is in favor of granting service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows a nexus between the Veteran's alcohol abuse and his service-connected PTSD, which in turn caused his acute necrotizing pancreatitis leading to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute Necrotizing Pancreatitis, Alcoholic Liver Disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2014
- Citation
- 1424964
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 1424964.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD is found to have contributed to his alcohol dependence, which in turn caused his death from liver failure and alcoholic liver disease. As a result, the Board grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for the cause of his death.
- Denied
The Board found that the cause of death, alcoholic liver disease and gastritis/peptic ulcer disease, was not related to service due to alcohol abuse.
- Denied
The VA determined that the veteran's chronic hepatitis does not warrant a higher disability rating as his symptoms are attributable to non-service-connected conditions.
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