The Board granted service connection for hypertension and arteriosclerotic heart disease based on presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service, pursuant to the PACT Act.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were granted due to his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service in Korea, as supported by statements from fellow servicemembers and his military personnel record. The Board found that the evidence was in equipoise for both conditions, thus granting service connection under the PACT Act.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension (HTN), arteriosclerotic heart disease (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 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25023272
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pheochromocytoma, hypertension (HTN), heart condition, and diabetes mellitus, type II due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's military service.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection for chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HTN), hypothyroidism, and ischemic heart disease are dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew all pending appeals before the Board promulgated a decision.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected OSA, restored a 60 percent rating for asthma with obstructive sleep apnea, and granted a 20 percent rating for dry eye syndrome during the period on appeal from September 17, 2023, to October 11, 2024. The Board denied a higher rating for unspecified depressive disorder.
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