The Board granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that diabetes mellitus, presumed to be related to herbicide exposure during service in Vietnam, played a material causal role in his death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician opined that it is at least as likely as not that the veteran's diabetes mellitus played a significant causal role in his death, supported by medical literature indicating increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in individuals with diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2008
- Citation
- 0809877
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,325 · Granted: 31% (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 0809877.
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 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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment prior to September 28, 2021. From September 28, 2021 to May 22, 2022, the Veteran had a combined total disability rating of 100%, which rendered the issue moot as he was already receiving SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and diabetes mellitus, but granted TDIU for the period prior to January 26, 2024.,Prior to this decision, the Veteran withdrew his claim of service connection for diabetes mellitus.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.