The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was caused by a cerebrovascular accident due to dysphagia and dementia, which are presumed to be related to his service-connected ischemic heart disease. The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the carotid artery and renal artery stenoses contributed to the cause of death.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion found that the Veteran's carotid artery and renal artery stenosis were manifestations of atherosclerotic vascular disease, which was presumed due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Board resolved all doubt in favor of the appellant, granting service connection for the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Cerebrovascular accident, Dysphagia, Dementia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19102799
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 Board remands the claims for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 due to duty to assist errors, including the need for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death.
- Granted
The Board granted a 30 percent evaluation for sinus neoplasm residuals and TDIU, but remanded the claims for service connection for GERD and dysphagia.
- Partly granted
The appeal was dismissed for the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, and service connection for migraine headaches was restored. Several claims for service connection were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for adrenal gland tumor, hypertension, enlarged node of the breast, congestive heart failure, kidney disability, pulmonary edema, cerebrovascular accident, Conn's disease, and paralysis of left lower extremity to obtain a VA examination and opinion.
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