The Board has granted the Veteran's petitions to reopen his claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), coronary artery disease, kidney disorder with hypertension, and bilateral eye disorder. These claims are now substantiated as new and material evidence was submitted.,Service connection is granted on a presumptive basis due to exposure to Agent Orange while stationed in Thailand.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has provided credible evidence of current diagnoses for diabetes mellitus, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), coronary artery disease, kidney disorder with hypertension, and bilateral eye disorder. The evidence also supports a finding that these conditions are related to his military service due to exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral eye disorder, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, kidney disorder with hypertension
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19160128
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,820 · Granted: 26% (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 19160128.
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 the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
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