The Veteran's death was caused by multi-system organ failure, with Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, and type II diabetes mellitus contributing substantially to his death. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to exposure to herbicide agents in Korea.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on exposure to herbicide agents during active duty near the DMZ in Korea, with a finding that Parkinson's disease has a known correlation with such exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease, type II diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2020
- Citation
- 20022930
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 20022930.
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 grants service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's tinnitus began during his period of active duty service. The claims for ischemic heart disease, aortic valve replacement, status post aortic stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease with popliteal aneurysm are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 20 percent for type II diabetes mellitus to address a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding VA not requesting private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's ischemic heart disease, as the previous opinions were found inadequate.
- Dismissed
The appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
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