The Board has determined that the evidence of record is in equipoise and consequently grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death as due to hypertension that caused his atrial fibrillation. The claim of service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include as secondary to various service-connected disabilities is dismissed.
The deciding factor: The Board has determined that the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's death was related to an event or incident in active service and grants service connection based on the benefit of the doubt doctrine.
- Claimed conditions
- Atrial fibrillation, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 18, 2016
- Citation
- 1606190
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 1606190.
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 claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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