The Veteran's death was not service-connected due to the lack of effective date before August 31, 2010. The Board denied an earlier effective date as the Appellant is not a Nehmer class member and VA did not recognize ischemic heart diseases as presumptively caused by Agent Orange exposure prior to that date.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was not a Vietnam veteran but had service in Thailand, which does not qualify him for the Nehmer class membership. The effective date of August 31, 2010, is based on VA recognizing ischemic heart diseases as presumptively caused by Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- esophageal cancer, ischemic cardiomyopathy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2023
- Citation
- 23016304
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 23016304.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of death due to esophageal cancer, which is presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's prostate disability. The claims for esophageal cancer and Barrett's esophagus remain denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ committed pre-decisional duty to notify and duty to assist errors in denying the DIC claim for the cause of the Veteran's death. The claim must be remanded to allow the AOJ to make a finding regarding whether the Appellant is considered the surviving spouse, as this is a threshold requirement for DIC benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, and requests medical opinions on the etiology of his coronary artery disease, GERD with dyspepsia, and upper respiratory infection.
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