The Veteran's claim for service connection for ischemic heart disease due to herbicide exposure has been reopened, with the evidence showing a current diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. The Board finds that this condition is at least as likely as not related to service.,Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted based on evidence suggesting noise exposure in service and continuity of symptomatology.
The deciding factor: The new evidence, including a June 2017 letter from the Veteran's private physician indicating a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease, raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection due to herbicide exposure.,The November 2017 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s hearing loss was not related to service. However, the June 2017 letter from Dr. CMQ supports the Veteran's contention that his hearing loss is related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic heart disease, Bilateral hearing loss, Hypertension, Prostate disorder (benign prostate hyperplasia)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2018
- Citation
- 18149144
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 18149144.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- 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.
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