The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was caused by his in-service exposure to toxic chemicals, including Scotchal, which contributed substantially or materially to his cause of death.
The deciding factor: Dr. C.H.C.'s medical opinion established a link between the Veteran’s in-service exposure to toxins, to include Scotchal, and his later development of heart problems, leading to his cardiac arrest at death.
- Claimed conditions
- Cardiopulmonary arrest, Heart disease
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19114509
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · Granted: 27% (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 19114509.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that there is no competent evidence linking any principal or contributory cause of his death to his service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for cerebrovascular strokes and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are denied as there is no evidence of a nexus between these conditions and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for Parkinson's disease, bladder cancer, and heart disease due to a duty to assist error in failing to consider potential toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) based on the Veteran's military occupational specialty (MOS).
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, listed as cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to myocardial infraction, was not service-connected. The Board found no evidence linking the heart condition to his military service.
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