The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of heat stroke, including cognitive impairment, finding that there is no clear neurobehavioral mechanism to support the claimed clinically impaired memory loss and concluding that the Veteran's cognitive problems are more likely related to emotional factors consistent with PTSD.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no conflicting evidence as to the etiology of the Veteran’s cognitive deficit symptoms between the March 2009 opinion, the neuropsychological findings, and the July 2019 opinion. The October 2019 examiner concluded that the findings in their totality reveal that the Veteran's cognitive problems are attributed to emotional factors consistent with PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of heat stroke, cognitive impairment
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2020
- Citation
- 20072927
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a cervical spine disorder and hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral strain and associated radiculopathy, but denied service connection for residuals of heat stroke, cerebrovascular accident (stroke), and vision disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for heat stroke to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's symptoms and functional loss.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and left knee strain and recurrent left knee patellar dislocation, but denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, right hand disability, bilateral ankle disability, residuals of heat stroke, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left shoulder osteoarthritis and remanded the other claims for further development.
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