The Board granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that his heart disease and hyperlipidemia were causally related to his exposure to herbicide agents during military service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The VA cardiologist opined that the veteran's presumed Dioxin exposure during service played a substantial part in the development of his atherosclerotic heart disease that claimed his life, and there was evidence supporting a causal connection between herbicide exposure and Type II diabetes mellitus, which is considered a 'coronary equivalent.'
- Claimed conditions
- Arteriosclerotic heart disease, Hyperlipidemia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 16, 2008
- Citation
- 0816260
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (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 0816260.
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
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- Denied
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