The Board finds that the veteran's need for regular aid and attendance of another person meets the criteria for special monthly pension benefits, based on his multiple nonservice-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The veteran requires daily personal health care services due to his physical limitations and disabilities, which necessitates assistance from others.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery bypass times four, myositis and osteoarthritis of spine, depressive disorder, peripheral vascular insufficiency of the left lower extremity, peripheral vascular insufficiency of the right lower extremity, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, hypertrophy of the left testicular mass, bilateral cataract with status post surgery left pterygium
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- February 19, 2004
- Citation
- 0404654
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,440 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0404654.
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 Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a back disorder, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes mellitus due to errors in development of the claim.
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