The Board has granted service connection for acute alcoholism as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected encephalopathy.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s chronic alcohol use is at least as likely as not related, at least in part, to his service-connected encephalopathy due to a history of alcohol abuse and delirium.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute alcoholism, Encephalopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 1, 2020
- Citation
- 20057713
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 20057713.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 USC 1318 due to a need for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death, considering toxic exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, requiring an additional VA medical opinion regarding the cause of the Veteran's death.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was attributed to diabetes mellitus type II, which resulted in hypoglycemia. The Board found that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents during service or at any other time, and thus denied service connection for the cause of death on this basis. Additionally, DIC benefits were not granted as the Veteran was not rated as totally disabled due to a service-connected disability prior to his death.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by encephalopathy, which is linked to his exposure to Agent Orange during service. The appeal for DIC based on service connection for the cause of death is granted. The appeal for accrued benefits is dismissed as all claims have been addressed.
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