The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected head injury substantially contributed to his development of dementia which caused his death. The decision is based on medical opinions supporting this conclusion.
The deciding factor: Medical evidence supports a link between the Veteran's service-connected head injury and his subsequent development of dementia, leading to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- advanced dementia, residuals of a head injury, left eye rectus muscle paralysis with diplopia, cervical disability, thoracic spine disability, left hip scar, left side facial nerve injury, loss of sense of smell, left eye ptosis, impaired taste sensation
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19132874
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD and an initial 20 percent rating for dry eye syndrome with pinguecula, while denying service connection for other psychiatric disorders, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and multiple musculoskeletal conditions. Some claims were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the claims for lumbar spine, thoracic spine, right hip, left knee, right knee, left ankle, right ankle, and bilateral foot disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a thoracic spine disability and remanded the claims for bilateral hip, left sciatic radicular pain, headaches, and cervicothoracic spine disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 28, 2015 for the awards of service connection for various conditions including Parkinson's disease with weakness, tremor, and bradykinesia of the left upper extremity; right upper extremity weakness with tremor and bradykinesia (major); depressive disorder with sleep impairment; right lower extremity weakness with bradykinesia, muscle rigidity, and balance impairment; left lower extremity balance impairment with muscle rigidity; speech changes, right CN-10; speech changes, left CN-10; stooped posture, right CN-11; stooped posture, left CN-11; erectile dysfunction; constipation; loss of sense of smell; and right automatic movements, CN-7; left automatic movements, CN-7.
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