The Board has granted service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) and hearing loss, but remanded the issue of service connection for hypothyroidism due to lack of relevant VA treatment records. The Veteran is presumed exposed to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's CAD is related to in-service exposure to herbicide agents, and hearing loss may be related to service based on a presumption of exposure to herbicide agents. Hypothyroidism was not found to be presumptively related to herbicide agent exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- CAD, hypothyroidism, hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186975
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and denied increased ratings for right shoulder impingement syndrome, hearing loss, painful scar, patellofemoral pain syndromes of the knees, and other conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a deviated septum and denied compensable ratings for allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, hypothyroidism, and hypertension.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for hypothyroidism, as it is presumptively linked to herbicide agent exposure during the Veteran's service in Vietnam.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial compensable disability rating for service-connected hypothyroidism and remanded the claim for service connection for lipomas (claimed as cysts surgery).
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