The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) as secondary to his service-connected hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The private physician provided a nexus opinion linking the Veteran’s CAD to his service-connected hypertension and OSA, considering other risk factors like hyperlipidemia and obesity. The provider explained that while smoking can be a risk factor for development of CAD, the Veteran's cessation of smoking 27 years prior greatly diminished its effects.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary artery disease (CAD), Hypertension, Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2020
- Citation
- A20018097
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.
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- Denied
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- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities prior to February 14, 2025, as the evidence did not show that he was precluded from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment during the appeal period.
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