The Veteran's death was not due to a service-connected disability, and he did not have any permanent and total service-connected disabilities at the time of his death. Therefore, DEA benefits are denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from an intraoral gunshot wound without having any service-connected disabilities or a grant for the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorders, Intraoral gunshot wound
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19105248
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19105248.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient explanation regarding whether the Veteran requires personal care services and if participation in PCAFC would be in his best interest. The matter is now on remand for further clarification.
- Granted
The Board grants service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, to include PTSD, are rated at a total (100%) disability effective November 7, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability is denied because there was no pending increased rating claim and the lack of continuous pursuit prevents the Board from awarding an earlier effective date.
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