The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for Graves’ disease, finding that there is insufficient medical evidence to establish a relationship between his condition and herbicide exposure during service.
The deciding factor: VA found that while the Veteran has Graves' disease, there is no sufficient peer-reviewed medical evidence to support a link between his condition and herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Graves’ disease, hyperthyroidism with ophthalmic complications
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19153603
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 19153603.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the claim for service connection for Graves’ disease as there is no evidence linking it to service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded two cases: one for Graves' disease and the other for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, both related to in-service exposure to radiation from missile control systems. The examiner is required to determine if these conditions are at least as likely as not caused by this exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a thyroid disorder to include Graves' disease and hyperthyroidism, finding that there was no evidence of such conditions during her active duty service or continuous since service. The preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding that the condition was related to service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's Graves' disease and hypothyroidism are granted as service connected due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam.
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