The Board has determined that the veteran's multiple disorders, including irregular heartbeat, kidney stones, impotence, gallstones, stress, hemorrhaging in the sinuses and throat, pain in the upper chest and shoulders, elevated fever, infections of the body, and insomnia are presumed to be due to exposure to mustard gas during service. The Board has granted this claim.
The deciding factor: The veteran's full-body exposure to mustard gas during active military service is sufficient to establish service connection for his claimed disorders.
- Claimed conditions
- irregular heartbeat, kidney stones, impotence, gallstones, stress, hemorrhaging in the sinuses and throat, pain in the upper chest and shoulders, elevated fever, infections of the body, insomnia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2000
- Citation
- 0031654
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 0031654.
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 claim for service connection of insomnia was denied, and the effective date is set to the date of receipt of the claim (May 31, 2024).
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia and alcohol use disorder caused his sleep apnea.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals regarding the claims of entitlement to a compensable disability evaluation for bilateral hearing loss, service connection for anterior uveitis, right eye, and service connection for restless leg syndrome, RLE. The claim for service connection for insomnia is dismissed as moot because it was granted with an effective date based on the date of the Veteran's application.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
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