The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was caused by his service-connected ischemic heart disease, which is presumed due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. 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 December 2018 VA examiner's opinion established that the Veteran’s carotid artery and renal artery stenosis were manifestations of atherosclerotic vascular disease, which is presumed due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Board found this opinion sufficient to find 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
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 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
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