The Veteran's claim for service connection of chest pain was denied in 1986, and the Board found that this could reasonably be construed as a claim for coronary artery disease. However, no diagnosis of CAD or any other presumptive condition was made until after August 2010 when ischemic heart disease (which includes CAD) was added to the list of disorders presumptively associated with Agent Orange exposure. As such, there were no pending claims at the time of the Veteran's death and he was not in receipt of service connection benefits for any disabilities at that time.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's claim could reasonably be construed as a claim for coronary artery disease (CAD), but no diagnosis of CAD or other presumptive conditions was made until after August 2010, which is outside the timeframe required by the Nehmer class rules. Therefore, there were no pending claims at the time of the Veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2022
- Citation
- A22025174
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 A22025174.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU and SMC for housebound status are granted based on service-connected PTSD from October 12, 2023, and CAD from October 1, 2022. The appeals were granted due to the severity of these conditions preventing the Veteran from securing or following substantially gainful employment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD) is being remanded for a VA examination to determine its current severity and for the consideration of any outstanding private medical records.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU rating based on depressive disorder is granted from October 17, 2018 to March 26, 2019. SMC at the housebound rate is also granted prior to March 26, 2019.
- Granted
The rating for the Veteran's service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD) was restored to 100 percent effective December 1, 2025.,The rating for the Veteran's service-connected specified stressor related disorder (psychiatric disability) was restored to 70 percent effective December 1, 2025.
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