The Veteran's cause of death, cerebrovascular disease and vascular dementia, was found to be caused in part by his service-connected bilateral hearing loss. The Board granted service connection for the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The profound service-connected bilateral hearing loss contributed substantially and materially to the development of cerebrovascular disease and vascular dementia, which led to the Veteran's fatal fall resulting in death.
- Claimed conditions
- Cerebrovascular disease, Vascular dementia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 17, 2026
- Citation
- A26014114
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 A26014114.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death is not considered service-connected prior to October 2, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and incomplete medical history. The Veteran's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is being reviewed, along with its secondary effects on stroke disability, vascular dementia, and peripheral neuropathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and for hypothyroidism due to a lack of adequate medical opinions. The Veteran died from vascular dementia, which may or may not be related to his toxic exposure risk activity at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was due to vascular dementia, which may have been caused by Agent Orange exposure. The Board finds that additional development is needed to determine the cause of strokes and hypertension.
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