The Veteran's cause of death was Alzheimer's dementia, which the Board found not related to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.,The Appellant's claim for DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 was denied as there is no legal basis for entitlement.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence did not support a causal relationship between the Veteran’s service-connected bilateral hearing loss and his cause of death (Alzheimer's dementia).,There was no legal basis to establish DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 as the Veteran had not been granted service connection for any condition that could be considered for DIC purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- Alzheimer's dementia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2020
- Citation
- 20008245
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for Alzheimer's dementia, finding it is at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's in-service exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as the evidence did not support a finding that his service-connected PTSD with alcohol abuse caused or contributed to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board granted readjudication of the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, but remanded these issues to obtain additional evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, Alzheimer's dementia, based on a link to in-service fuel exposure.
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