The Veteran's death was due to craniocerebral trauma with alcohol intoxication as a contributing cause. Service connection for the cause of death is denied, and DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is also denied.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the cause of death cannot be established because neither PTSD nor alcohol dependence was found to have caused or contributed substantially or materially to the Veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- craniocerebral trauma, alcohol intoxication
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 18, 2017
- Citation
- 1716997
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 1716997.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Lakewood Hospital from November 15, 2011 to November 17, 2011 are now covered by VA due to the emergency nature of his treatment and the unavailability of VA facilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's condition was not of such a nature that a prudent layperson would have reasonably expected delay in seeking immediate medical attention to be hazardous to life or health. Therefore, the claim for payment or reimbursement for unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Mease Countryside Hospital on April 25, 2017 is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred during a non-VA hospitalization at Lee Memorial Hospital from November 11th-12th of 2015 are granted due to the presence of a permanent and total (P&T) service-connected disability for PTSD, which made the private treatment necessary.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between the Veteran's listed cause of death (closed head injury due to or consequence of a MVA) and his active military service.
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