The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including respiratory disabilities, skin disabilities, alopecia, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus type II, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities and lower extremities, due to lack of credible evidence of in-service exposure to herbicide agents or other confirmed exposures. The preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service records do not show service in Vietnam or actual exposure to herbicides during his active duty, and there is no credible evidence supporting such claims. The Board found that the claimed disabilities first manifested more than one year after separation from service and did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection under 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(3) and 3.309(a).
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory disabilities, skin disability (actinic keratosis, chloracne, skin discoloration, skin lesions, vitiligo), alopecia, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus type II, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities and bilateral lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2021
- Citation
- 21022392
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 21022392.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke as there was no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service and the medical opinions were against a nexus to service.
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