The Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and coronary artery disease (formerly claimed as heart problem) have been granted due to exposure to an herbicide agent. However, the claim for erectile dysfunction secondary to diabetes mellitus is denied.,Service connection has also been denied for basal-cell skin cancer and bilateral hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's duties at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base brought him into proximity with herbicide agents used for base security, qualifying him for presumptive service connection under the Agent Orange Act.
- Claimed conditions
- basal-cell skin cancer, bilateral hearing loss, coronary artery disease (formerly claimed as heart problem), diabetes mellitus, type II, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19122497
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19122497.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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