The Board has determined that the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death should be remanded to obtain an opinion regarding whether his acquired psychiatric disorder (likely PTSD) was related to service, if it caused or aggravated his heart condition and alcohol abuse, and if it is related to service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional medical opinions are needed to address the relationship between the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder and his heart condition, as well as whether the acquired psychiatric disorder caused or aggravated his alcohol abuse. The Board also needs to determine if the heart condition is related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, chronic alcoholism
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107558
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 19107558.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease was caused by his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, which was chronic alcoholism.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as there was no evidence that a disability incurred in or aggravated by service caused or contributed substantially to his death.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not related to service-connected conditions, and the claim for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied.
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