The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that the cause was not related to active service or any incident of service.
The deciding factor: The most persuasive evidence showed that the cause of the Veteran's death is not related to active service or any incident of service, including as due to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and/or tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Alzheimer's dementia, aspiration pneumonia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2023
- Citation
- A23027917
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 A23027917.
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 has granted service connection for Alzheimer's dementia as secondary to bilateral hearing loss and special monthly compensation based on the need for aid and attendance due to the Veteran's dementia.
- Granted
The Veteran's Alzheimer's dementia is granted as service connected due to exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam, including Agent Orange.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim that the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss contributed to his death due to Alzheimer's dementia and failure to thrive, finding that there was no causal connection.
- 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.
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