The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of coronary artery disease, as the grant was based on the PACT Act and no other theory of entitlement supported an earlier date.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran served in Vietnam or its territorial waters during Blue Water Navy purposes, which would have allowed for presumptive service connection under the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019. The effective date was thus set to August 10, 2022, the date the PACT Act was signed into law.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease (CAD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2025
- Citation
- A25021195
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 835 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A25021195.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for service connection and TDIU are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of his coronary artery disease.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer, coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes mellitus type II (DM II), hypertension, and erectile dysfunction as secondary to service-connected DM II. The Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during active service is presumed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claims for coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease, varicose veins, and irritable bowel syndrome are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding secondary service connection.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeal for earlier effective dates for hypertension and coronary artery disease (CAD) as both issues were previously decided by the Board on a presumptive basis under the PACT Act, which precludes an earlier effective date.
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