The Veteran's heart disability and diabetes mellitus are granted service connection based on herbicide agent exposure in the Republic of Vietnam, with the benefit of doubt favoring the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was in approximate balance regarding the Veteran's claimed exposure to herbicide agents in the Republic of Vietnam, leading to a finding of presumed exposure and granting service connection based on this theory.
- Claimed conditions
- Arterioslerotic heart disease with stable angina, Old myocardial infarction, Coronary artery bypass graft, Diabetes mellitus, type II
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2023
- Citation
- 23016403
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 23016403.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding the lack of development related to Agent Orange exposure and solvent/asbestos exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of August 10, 2022 for hypertension and July 25, 2023 for diabetes mellitus, type II, bilateral lower extremity diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a bilateral hearing loss disability, and tinnitus.,The Veteran's conditions were found to have manifested no later than the dates specified in their respective effective dates.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for DIC benefits, finding that the Appellant's claim was not properly reopened and that the earliest available effective date is June 14, 2021.
- Granted
The Veteran's spouse is granted an effective date of April 12, 2022 for dependency compensation based on the establishment of a disability rating in the percentage evaluation specified by law.
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