The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death based on the regulatory changes that became effective in October 2004, which established a presumption of service connection for certain diseases including myocardial infarction due to atherosclerotic heart disease.
The deciding factor: The underlying cause of the veteran's death was myocardial infarction, which is considered a complication of atherosclerotic heart disease under revised regulations effective October 7, 2004. The Board found that there is an abundance of medical literature supporting this causal relationship and granted the claim based on these regulatory changes.
- Claimed conditions
- myocardial infarction, cardiorespiratory arrest
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 6, 2006
- Citation
- 0609991
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 499 · Granted: 18% (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 0609991.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for coronary artery disease with myocardial infarction is granted on a presumptive basis due to exposure to herbicide agents during his active duty in Korea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for an increased rating for coronary artery disease and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities. The decision is pending further action as private treatment records are needed.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss claims are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's high cholesterol, dementia, stroke, prostate cancer, cataracts, diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and myocardial infarction claims are denied due to lack of service connection evidence or insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the disabilities and active duty service.,The Veteran was exposed to toxins during his military service but there is no evidence linking these exposures to any of the claimed conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to deficiencies in the record existing prior to the appealed decision, including inadequate VA examinations and failure to obtain a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) opinion for sleep apnea. The Veteran's representative raised concerns about the adequacy of previous opinions and the need for additional development.
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