The Veteran's cause of death is remanded for additional development, and the DIC claim under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied due to lack of entitlement under the law.
The deciding factor: The criteria for DIC benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1318 have not been met as there was no continuous total disability rating for a period of at least five years immediately preceding death or one year immediately preceding death in cases where the Veteran was a former POW.
- Claimed conditions
- amnestic disorder, temporal lobe seizure disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21062122
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,038 · Granted: 30% (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 21062122.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding service connection for amnestic disorder and head scar before the Board could make a decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression with complaints of anxiety and memory loss, is granted as secondary to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for residuals of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), head scar, and amnestic disorder has been reopened due to the submission of new evidence. The claims are now pending for further adjudication.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a TDIU was granted, with the effective date being from the date of receipt of his application. The combined disability rating is at least 70% due to service-connected disabilities.
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