The Board granted service connection for COPD, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy based on the Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during his service.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a direct causal relationship between the Veteran's disabilities and his in-service exposure to herbicides, specifically Agent Orange, as there is no evidence contradicting this theory.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25052265
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 696 · Granted: 63% (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 A25052265.
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.
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- Denied
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- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher level of SMC was denied as the Board found that he is already in receipt of SMC at the (l) rate based on need for regular aid and attendance due to service-connected disabilities, including coronary artery disease with congestive heart failure. A second award of SMC at the (l) rate based on need for regular aid and attendance was not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU and DEA claims are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors prior to the rating decision on review. The effective date for TDIU is set at January 31, 2021, based on the last day of employment. However, the RO needs to obtain SSA records regarding earnings from July 2020 to January 31, 2021, to determine if the Veteran's employment was marginal.
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