The veteran's cause of death was granted service connection effective October 7, 2004 due to a regulatory amendment that provided for presumptive service connection for former POWs with certain heart conditions. The appellant sought an earlier effective date but the claim is denied as the grant was based on new law.
The deciding factor: The change in law provided a basis for granting presumptive service connection, which became effective October 7, 2004.
- Claimed conditions
- atherosclerotic heart disease, hypertensive vascular disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 17, 2008
- Citation
- 0823805
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 0823805.
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 DIC benefits based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected prostate cancer and its treatment caused his death due to side effects from Zytiga.
- Denied
The Veteran's death due to cardiac arrest and atherosclerotic heart disease was not related or attributable to his military service, thus denying the claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypertensive vascular disease, concussion, diabetes mellitus, seizure disability, bilateral pes planus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (alcohol use disorder in sustained remission and PTSD). The effective date for hypertension was denied as the Veteran's claim was received within one year of the PACT Act.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal involves multiple service-connected and non-service-connected conditions, with some issues being remanded for further evaluation. The primary issue is the need to determine if additional evaluations are warranted for various disabilities.
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