The Board found that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents while serving on naval ships within twelve nautical miles of the Republic of Vietnam, and thus service connection for the cause of his death due to herbicide exposure is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board resolved reasonable doubt in favor of the appellant based on the recent Federal Circuit decision in Procopio, which held that veterans who served in the territorial waters of the Republic of Vietnam are entitled to presumptive service connection under 38 U.S.C. § 1116.
- Claimed conditions
- multi-organ failure, septic shock, pneumonia, small cell lung cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19130937
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 19130937.
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 service connection for pneumonia and remanded the claims for iodine allergy, pilonidal cyst, sulfa allergy, heart disability, acquired psychiatric disorder, and lower and upper extremity disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to an inadequate VA medical opinion and a need for additional evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion on whether the Veteran's acute hypoxemia, respiratory failure, and pneumonia were related to service or toxic exposure under the PACT Act.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia and an increased rating for asthma, and remanded several other claims including those for heart condition, chronic low back condition, diabetes mellitus type II, GERD, hypertension, and sleep apnea.
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