The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and diabetes mellitus due to exposure to herbicide agents (for accrued purposes only). The decision found that arteriosclerotic heart disease was not incurred in or aggravated by service, may not be presumed to have been so incurred, and was not proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury. Diabetes mellitus was not listed as a contributing factor in the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Board found that arteriosclerotic heart disease did not singly or with some other condition cause or contribute substantially or materially to cause death, and diabetes mellitus was not related to exposure to herbicide agents during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arteriosclerotic heart disease, Labile hypertension, Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2005
- Citation
- 0501373
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0501373.
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: Granted
The Veteran's arteriosclerotic heart disease is rated at 100% effective October 25, 2024. His prostate cancer residuals are rated at 60% effective October 25, 2024.
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The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Whole decision: Denied
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