Citation Nr: 21072365 Decision Date: 12/03/21 Archive Date: 12/02/21 DOCKET NO. 19-38 583 DATE: December 3, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease (CAD) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran served in the Republic of Vietnam and, therefore, it is presumed that he was exposed to herbicide agents. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection on a presumptive basis for CAD have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from August 1958 to August 11, 1960, and from September 22, 1960, to March 1979, including service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board notes that although the Veteran has an outstanding hearing request and additional evidence, specifically VA medical records, was submitted post-certification without waiver of AOJ consideration, the claim of service connection for CAD is granted in the decision below, and thus, there has been no prejudice to the Veteran with respect to that issue. The Veteran asserts that he is entitled to service connection for CAD on the basis that it is presumptively associated with his exposure to Agent Orange during service in the Republic of Vietnam. See Appellate Brief, dated October 27, 2021. Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active military service. The Veteran's claimed disability, CAD, is one for which service connection may be granted on a presumptive basis where exposure to herbicide agents has either been shown by the evidence or established presumptively; and where the disability has become manifest to a degree of at least 10 percent. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6)(ii), 3.309(e). In adjudicating claims for VA benefits, the burden of proof only requires an "approximate balance" of the evidence for and against a claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55-56 (1991). This low standard of proof is "unique" to the VA adjudicatory process, and "the nation, 'in recognition of our debt to our veterans,' has 'taken upon itself the risk of error' in awarding such benefits." Wise v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 517, 531 (2014). In evaluating a claim for disability benefits, when there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107. In this case, VA has conceded herbicide exposure based on the Veteran's in-country service in the Republic of Vietnam from December 1967 to November 1968. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a)(6)(iii). Thus, the question turns to whether the Veteran currently has the claimed disability. Although a September 2018 VA examination did not conclude a diagnosis of CAD, VA medical records dated May 11, 2018 reflect an assessment of CAD, asymptomatic. When affording the Veteran the benefit-of-the-doubt, the Board finds the medical evidence submitted in support of his claim is well-founded. In light of the Veteran's confirmed service in the Republic of Vietnam, the objective clinical medical evidence as a whole, and his credible and competent statements in support of the claim, the Board finds that the evidence warrants service connection for CAD and will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). L. BARSTOW Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board A.N., 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.