The Board denied service connection for the cause of death and DIC benefits due to the Veteran's alcoholism, which was considered willful misconduct. The Veteran did not have a service-connected disability at the time of his death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from acute and chronic alcoholism, which is considered willful misconduct under VA regulations. There were no service-connected disabilities that contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcoholism, Cardiomegaly
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19173639
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 19173639.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Granted
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- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options, and the claim for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law.
- Remanded (sent back)
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