Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of death, finding that the Veteran's substance abuse disorder was a means to self-medicate symptoms associated with his service-connected psychiatric disabilities and contributed substantially or materially to his death.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion provided clear evidence that the Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder and PTSD caused or aggravated his substance abuse, which led to his accidental difluoroethane inhalation toxicity.
- Claimed conditions
- major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), costochondritis, choriretinal scar OS left, episodic hypertension, dermititis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25085061
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