The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits. The December 2003 medical opinion supports a relationship between Agent Orange exposure in service and the disabilities that caused the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The December 2003 medical opinion provided a higher level of certainty regarding the potential connection between Agent Orange exposure and the cause of the veteran's death compared to previous opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- multi-system organ failure, acute interior myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, pleurisy, inflammatory tissue and organic pleuritis, arthralgias, polymyalgia rheumatica, gastroesophageal reflux disease
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 13, 2007
- Citation
- 0725029
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 0725029.
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 the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke as there was no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service and the medical opinions were against a nexus to service.
- 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.
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