Citation Nr: 18152917 Decision Date: 11/27/18 Archive Date: 11/26/18 DOCKET NO. 16-20 940 DATE: November 27, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is granted. FINDING OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s official Certificate of Death states that the immediate cause of death was right subdural hematoma due to a possible trauma or fall. 2. The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s impaired judgment, as a result of his already service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was a contributory cause of his death. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1310, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.312 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from August 1960 through August 1965 and March 1968 through February 1974. The Veteran had decorated combat service and his awards included the Combat Infantryman Badge, Combat Action Ribbon and the Purple Heart Medal. He died in May 2013. The appellant is the Veteran’s surviving spouse. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2013 decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The appellant seeks service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, contending that his death is due to the impact of his service-connected disabilities. The cause of death listed on the death certificate was subdural hematoma due to a possible trauma or fall. Additionally, the appellant reports that the Veteran was prone to psychiatric symptoms as a result of his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The appellant reports that the Veteran had poor judgment immediately prior to his death due to his PTSD, which contributed to his death. To establish service connection for the cause of a Veteran’s death, the evidence must show that a disability incurred in or aggravated by active service was either (1) the principal (primary) cause of death, or (2) a contributory cause of death. To be considered a principal (primary) cause of death, a service-connected disability, singly or jointly with some other condition, must have been the immediate or underlying cause of death or have been etiologically related to the cause of death. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.312(b). For a service-connected disability to be a contributing cause, it must have substantially or materially contributed to the Veteran’s death. Id. The appellant testified at the Board hearing that the medication prescribed by the VA caused his death, which is consistent with notations in treatment records. The evidence shows that the Veteran’s PTSD was productive of poor judgment The appellant testified that the Veteran would become dizzy when driving long distances due to his medication and that she often strongly encouraged him not to drive. See Hearing Transcript, page 12, March 2017. The appellant testified that days before his death, the Veteran chose to drive several hours out of state against her request. See Hearing Transcript, page 12, March 2017. The Board finds that in doing so, the Veteran’s psychiatric disability substantially and materially contributed to his death in that the Veteran exercised poor judgment when he failed to appreciate the risks associated with driving a lengthy distance. The lay statements provided by the appellant regarding the psychiatric symptoms observed in the Veteran are highly credible and the Board finds the appellant competent to offer testimony on this subject given the consistency with other evidence of record. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, (Fed. Cir. 2007); Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465 (1994). Thus, resolving all reasonable doubt in the appellant’s favor, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for the cause of the Veteran’s death. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. Jones, Associate Counsel