The Board has reconsidered the Veteran's claims and found that new service personnel records received since the January 1998 rating decision are relevant to his diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease claims. As a result, these claims have been reopened.
The deciding factor: New service personnel records show the Veteran served in waters off shore of Vietnam, which is considered equivalent to 'service in the Republic of Vietnam' for purposes of presumptive exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, retinopathy of diabetes mellitus, kidney disorder (presumed), peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 21, 2009
- Citation
- 0919020
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 0919020.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
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