The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease/ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus type 2, including as due to herbicide exposure, finding that the Veteran did not have evidence of herbicide exposure during his service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's military personnel records do not indicate he worked on C-123 aircraft during the applicable time periods and locations, which are required for presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease/ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19164328
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 19164328.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 diabetes mellitus type 2 and diabetic nephropathy (renal failure) as secondary to the Veteran's now service-connected hypertension and diabetes mellitus type 2, respectively.
- Dismissed
The appeal for entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is dismissed as moot due to the Veteran's 100 percent combined rating assigned for his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for higher ratings and earlier effective dates, except for an earlier effective date for service connection of lower extremity peripheral neuropathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the claim for service connection of the Veteran's cause of death due to a predecisional duty to assist error in not obtaining relevant medical records from the state veteran's home.
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