The Veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, but the criteria for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 are not met as he did not meet the continuous total disability rating requirement.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have a continuous total disability rating of at least 10 years immediately preceding death or continuously rated as totally disabled since discharge for at least five years.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus with erectile dysfunction, peripheral arterial disease of the left lower extremity, peripheral arterial disease of the right lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120365
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19120365.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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 withdrew his appeals for service connection of peripheral neuropathy in all four extremities, resulting in the dismissal of these claims.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection of peripheral neuropathy in all four extremities, resulting in the dismissal of these claims.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, coronary artery disease, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to exposure to toxic chemicals during military service. The conditions are presumed related to herbicide exposure.
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