The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, which was chronic alcoholism.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted as there is no evidence of radiation exposure or a service-connected disability that caused or contributed to the Veteran's death. Additionally, primary substance abuse, such as alcoholism, is not service-connected under VA law.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic alcoholism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25087594
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,592 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation A25087594.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for updated VA treatment records and further development regarding his claimed conditions.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that further evidence is needed to determine if the Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected conditions or if he had an acquired psychiatric disability, such as PTSD, which may have contributed to his alcoholism and cardiovascular disease.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death should be remanded to obtain an opinion regarding whether his acquired psychiatric disorder (likely PTSD) was related to service, if it caused or aggravated his heart condition and alcohol abuse, and if it is related to service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by alcohol-related liver failure, bleeding from the gut, and lung fluid accumulation. These conditions were not service-connected.
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