The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, as the evidence did not support a finding that his service-connected PTSD with alcohol abuse caused or contributed to his death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was insufficient to establish a causal relationship between the Veteran's service-connected conditions and his death, particularly given the more likely cause of death attributed to a neurocognitive disease due to a traumatic brain injury sustained in an accident while under the influence of alcohol.
- Claimed conditions
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with alcohol abuse, Alzheimer's dementia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25094039
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 A25094039.
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 PTSD with alcohol abuse is rated at 70 percent, which reflects the severity of his symptoms causing occupational and social impairment.
- 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.
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