The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death as there was insufficient evidence to establish that the Veteran had service in Vietnam, and even if he did, the preponderance of the evidence is against the finding that it caused or contributed to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on a lack of evidence showing the Veteran's exposure to herbicides during his service and the absence of a causal connection between any such exposure and the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- type II diabetes mellitus, Buerger's disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0905581
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 20 percent for type II diabetes mellitus to address a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding VA not requesting private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for type II diabetes mellitus due to a need for an additional medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an effective date of October 24, 2022, for obstructive sleep apnea. Other claims were denied or remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, finding no evidence of the condition during service or within a year of discharge and no link to in-service exposure.
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