The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to lack of new and material evidence. The DIC claim was remanded for further action, including obtaining VA outpatient treatment records and a medical opinion regarding the cause of death.
The deciding factor: No new and material evidence was submitted to reopen the service connection claim for the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- cause of death (acute narcotism), heroin addiction, methadone treatment
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2018
- Citation
- 18157697
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 18157697.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and none of his claims for accrued benefits purposes have been granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for a heart disability and heroin addiction due to lack of evidence supporting these claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and providing proper notice regarding secondary service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The appeal is granted as his PTSD is now considered service-connected.
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