The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's claimed disabilities, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, and other conditions, based on presumed exposure to herbicides while serving in the Republic of Vietnam. The effective date is set as August 31, 2010, which is when VA added ischemic heart disease (IHD) as a presumptive disability.
The deciding factor: VA received medical evidence containing diagnoses of coronary artery disease prior to August 31, 2010, and thus inferred service connection for IHD based on the presumption of exposure to herbicides in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee disability, right hip disability, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, removal of a testicle, Parkinson's disease, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, type II diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2018
- Citation
- 1817053
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 1817053.
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 appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
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