The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, congestive heart failure due to hypertension, is related to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service. As such, the claim for DIC benefits based on service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board found sufficient evidence of an association between hypertension and exposure to herbicides like Agent Orange, leading to a finding that hypertension contributed materially to the Veteran's cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191517
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 19191517.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
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- Denied
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