The Board granted service connection for congestive heart failure and valvular heart disease, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected type II diabetes mellitus.
The deciding factor: The evidence is approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's claimed cardiac disability was caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus, and reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of the appellant.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive heart failure, Valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- July 9, 2025
- Citation
- 25008957
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for congestive heart failure with implanted pacemaker, bradycardia, valvular heart disease, and atrial fibrillation, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, type II, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, asthma/lung disease, vision disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, leukocytosis, kidney disease/kidney stones, enlarged prostate, sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar spine disability, right ankle disability, and left ankle disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a cardiovascular disability, secondary to hypertension, but denied a compensable rating and an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
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