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Denied

The Veteran's service connection claims for coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus II, hypertension, gout, and erectile dysfunction have been denied as the evidence does not support a finding that these conditions began during active service or are otherwise related to in-service injury or disease.,No VA examination was required as there is no indication of an event, injury, or disease occurring in service, nor any chronic disease manifesting within one year after service discharge. The Veteran's STRs show normal clinical evaluations at service separation and the first documented findings for CAD, diabetes, hypertension, and gout occurred decades after service.,The Veteran's lay statements about exposure to herbicides are not credible as they do not provide details of when or where he was exposed, nor are they corroborated by his military personnel records. The Board does not find any evidence of in-service injury or disease that could be linked to the claimed conditions.

The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran's claimed conditions began during active service or are otherwise related to in-service injury or disease.

Claimed conditions
coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes mellitus II, hypertension, gout, erectile dysfunction
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 22, 2020
Citation
20080318

Veterans Law Judge

C.A. SKOW

Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)

Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.

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 20080318.

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