The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of death in the line of duty due to his own willful misconduct, as evidenced by his alcohol intoxication at the time of the motorcycle accident.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from alcohol intoxication and was found to have engaged in willful misconduct by consuming alcohol and driving a motorcycle while intoxicated.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcohol Intoxication
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20070053
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 237 · Granted: 39% (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 20070053.
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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The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses for an emergency room visit at Great Plains Regional Medical Center on May 30, 2011 are denied as the treatment was not rendered in response to a medical emergency and VA facilities were feasibly available.
- Denied
The Board found that the decedent's death in May 1997 was due to willful misconduct, specifically alcohol intoxication. The preponderance of evidence supports this conclusion and denies the DIC claim.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's medical condition was emergent at the time of his admission to North Bay Hospital, and he is entitled to payment or reimbursement for unauthorized medical expenses incurred from December 24, 2005, to January 4, 2006.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized private medical expenses incurred at Rochester General Hospital from March 29, 2007 to March 30, 2007 is denied because the treatment provided was not for a condition that required immediate medical attention.
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