Ischemic heart disease decisions — 2006

The Board denied service connection for heart disorder and hypertension, skin disability to include skin rashes, and gastrointestinal disability (irritable bowel syndrome) as they were not incurred or aggravated by active service.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current hearing loss disability, tinnitus, hypertension, or coronary artery disease that is related to his service. The evidence shows no manifestation of these conditions in service and they are not shown to be related to any incident therein.

The Board denied service connection for hypertension, left hip disability, seizure disorder, coronary artery disease (CAD), bilateral hearing loss, and vertigo.

The Board has ordered additional development due to incomplete medical records and the need for a VA physician's opinion regarding whether the veteran's cause of death was related to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of death due to tobacco use in service and also denied eligibility for dependents' educational assistance benefits.,The veteran's fatal heart disease, artery disease, renal disease, and diabetes were not incurred or aggravated by his active duty service.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for coronary artery disease and acute myocardial infarction, finding no evidence of a heart attack during active duty or ACDUTRA.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for postoperative residuals of coronary artery disease and remanded it to the RO for further development and consideration on the merits.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of May 17, 2005 for his TDIU due to lack of factual ascertainability prior to that date and because he did not meet the schedular criteria for a total disability evaluation based on individual unemployability.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 based on hypothetical entitlement, as such claims are excluded from consideration.

The Board has determined that there is no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's chest pain, coronary artery diseases (CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cholestoma with right ear hearing loss to his active service. As such, the claims for these conditions are denied.

The Board has determined that the preponderance of the evidence is against service connection for all claimed conditions.

The Board and RO have previously denied service connection for various conditions, including a low back disability, diabetes mellitus, heart disorder, right shoulder disorder, bilateral foot disorder, right leg disorder, and right side of the body disorders. The most recent denial was in March 1998 by the RO, which found no new and material evidence to reopen these claims.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for hypertension with hypertensive heart disease and a TDIU rating, finding that his service-connected disabilities did not meet the criteria for these benefits.

The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused or substantially contributed to by any service-connected disability, and denied the claim for service connection for the cause of his death.

The veteran requested to withdraw her appeal regarding service connection for heart disease, claimed as secondary to PTSD.

The Board found that the veteran's hypertension and hypertensive heart disease were not incurred in or aggravated by service, were not manifest within the first post-service year, and were not incurred as a result of any established event, injury, or disease during active service. Therefore, service connection for these conditions was denied.

The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration, including providing proper VCAA notice.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of service connection for a heart disorder, pancreatic disorder, and osteopenia. The evidence did not support these claims as there was no medical link to service.

The Board finds that the veteran does not have a current diagnosis of PTSD and there is no evidence linking his current diagnoses to service or any service-connected disability. Therefore, the claims for PTSD, back disorder, and heart disorder are denied.

The veteran's claims for increased evaluations for coronary artery disease and PTSD were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings under the applicable rating schedule.