The Board denied service connection for ischemic heart disease, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, headaches, and other conditions as the evidence did not support a finding that these disabilities were incurred in or caused by service, to include due to exposure to an herbicide agent.
The deciding factor: The persuasive weight of the evidence was against a finding that the Veteran's claimed disabilities were related to his military service, including any exposure to herbicides during service at the Korean DMZ.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), Hypertension, Erectile Dysfunction, Headaches, Right Lower Extremity Peripheral Neuropathy, Left Lower Extremity Peripheral Neuropathy, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Eye Disabilities, Heart Disease, Other Than IHD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2025
- Citation
- 25007002
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, left knee disability, and right knee disability. The claims for urinary frequency disability and residuals of a cholecystectomy were denied.
- Partly granted
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial increased rating for diabetes mellitus type II and remanded the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, right shoulder strain with acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis and tendinitis, cervical spine spondylosis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right knee degenerative arthritis, and thoracolumbar scoliosis and lumbar spine degenerative changes.
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