The Veteran's cause of death, cardiac arrhythmia due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is not related to his service or a service-connected disorder.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion found that the Veteran’s cardiac arrhythmia and underlying cardiomyopathy were not related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiac arrhythmia, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20006934
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for basal cell carcinoma and a higher initial disability rating of 70 percent for other specified trauma-and-stressor-related disorder, while denying increased ratings for lumbosacral strain, right lower radiculopathy, bilateral hearing loss, chronic rhinitis, tension headaches, and mitral valve prolapse.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is related to his service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an increased rating for dyspnea of unknown etiology and service connection for cardiac arrhythmia, dermatosis-left hand, cervicothoracic pain, radicular pain and paresthesia of upper extremities, and obstructive sleep apnea.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, fibromyalgia, respiratory insufficiency, cardiac arrhythmia, skin disability, and chronic sinusitis due to a lack of evidence supporting the presence of these conditions during or after service.
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