Citation Nr: 21003510 Decision Date: 01/21/21 Archive Date: 01/21/21 DOCKET NO. 15-16 483 DATE: January 21, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease (claimed as chest pain) as due to herbicide exposure is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Records concerning the Veteran’s service confirm he had qualifying service in the Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam Era; therefore, it is presumed he was exposed to herbicide agents (including the dioxin in Agent Orange). 2. Coronary artery disease is presumptively associated with exposure to Agent Orange. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria are met for entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from November 1967 to January 1993. Service connection for chest pain was originally denied in a June 1994 rating decision, which became final. The Veteran filed a request to reopen the claim in June 2005. In a March 2006 rating decision, the RO continued the denial based on finding no new and material evidence to reopen the claim. However, in June 2011, the RO initiated a Nehmer review of the claim de novo, as VA had issued a liberalizing regulation creating a new basis for the grant of service connection for ischemic heart disease (which includes coronary artery disease), as presumptively associated with exposure to herbicide agents. See 75 Fed. Reg. 53,202 (Aug. 31, 2010). In the June 2011 rating decision, the RO conceded exposure to herbicides because the Veteran had served in the Republic of Vietnam but denied service connection for ischemic heart disease after finding no diagnosis of ischemic heart disease. The Veteran timely appealed the RO’s denial of the claim. Since this appeal originates from a Nehmer review action, it does not implicate a reopening of a claim based on new and material evidence. A hearing request was submitted on the Veteran’s May 2015 VA Form 9. However, the request was ultimately withdrawn in a written correspondence by the Veteran received by VA in January 2020. Service Connection Service connection will be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a link between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 293 (2013). Service connection may also be granted for a disease first diagnosed after discharge when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Moreover, a veteran, who, during active duty service, served in Vietnam during the period beginning in January 1962 and ending in May 1975, is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents, including Agent Orange. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. If a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange during active military, naval, or air service, certain diseases, including ischemic heart disease (which includes coronary artery disease), are presumptively service-connected. 38 U.S.C. § 1116 (a)(1); 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (e). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b). 1. Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease (claimed as chest pain) as due to herbicide exposure is granted. The Veteran contends that his coronary artery disease is the result of exposure to Agent Orange while on active duty service in the Republic of Vietnam. For the following reasons, entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease, to include as due to herbicide exposure, is granted on a presumptive basis. First, military service records confirm that the Veteran served on active duty in the Republic of Vietnam, including from July 1966 to August 1966. See Service Record. Therefore, exposure to herbicides is conceded. Moreover, the Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of coronary artery disease. See October 2007 VA medical record (showing diagnosis of “coronary artery disease, stable”). As the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents in Vietnam and has a current diagnosis of coronary artery disease, he is entitled to service connection for coronary artery disease on a presumptive basis. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 1116; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309(e). GAYLE STROMMEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. J. Cho, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.