The Board granted an effective date of May 1, 2016, for the award of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 35.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents during his service in Vietnam, and the PACT Act expanded the presumptive conditions associated with such exposure to include hypertension. The appellant's original DIC claim would have been granted if the PACT Act had been in effect at the time of its filing.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, diabetes mellitus, type II
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25089834
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 845 · Granted: 39% (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 A25089834.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
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