The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for the cause of death and granted it, finding that the Veteran's anxiety reaction caused or aggravated his heart conditions leading to his death.
The deciding factor: The outside medical opinion concluded that the Veteran’s anxiety reaction likely precipitated and aggravated his ventricular tachycardia and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, which contributed to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety reaction, Ventricular tachycardia, Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19130412
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · Granted: 17% (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 19130412.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple heart disabilities, diabetes mellitus, type II, hypothyroidism, bladder cancer, hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, peripheral neuropathies, bilateral non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and erectile dysfunction based on the Veteran's exposure to herbicides in Korea.
- Granted
The Veteran's heart disabilities, including ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, are granted as service-connected due to exposure to herbicides in Korea. Other conditions like diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension, diabetic nephropathy, peripheral neuropathies, and erectile dysfunction are also granted based on the evidence of record.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death, but denied service connection for a kidney disorder. The Veteran's cause of death was listed as ventricular tachycardia due to cardiomyopathy, due to end stage renal disease (including hypertension).
- Granted
The Veteran's death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest due to heart disorders, with significant contributing causes including diabetes and angioplasty. The Board found that the Veteran's PTSD contributed substantially to his heart conditions, leading to a grant of service connection for the cause of death.
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