The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim and granted service connection for heart disease as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, finding that it is at least as likely as not that the service-connected condition caused or contributed substantially to death. The cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest.
The deciding factor: The private doctor opined that the service-connected type II diabetes mellitus aided in the development and permanent aggravation of hypertension, which combined with diabetes to contribute substantially and materially to heart disease and cardiac arrest.
- Claimed conditions
- type II diabetes mellitus, heart disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2017
- Citation
- 1747760
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 1747760.
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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- Granted
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