Ischemic heart disease decisions — 2018

The Board has determined that the Veteran's chronic heart and lung conditions, including ischemic heart disease, were incurred in service. These conditions substantially contributed to his death.

The Board has determined that the Veteran did not serve in Vietnam and was not exposed to herbicide agents, including Agent Orange. Therefore, service connection for ischemic heart disease cannot be established as secondary to such exposure.

The Board has restored a 30% rating for tension headaches from May 8, 2013 to April 26, 2017. The heart condition claim is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding its etiology.

The Board determined that the December 1999 rating decision assigning a single 10 percent rating for bilateral knee disorder was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.,Service connection is granted for an eye disorder (dry eyes).

The Veteran's claims for service connection were previously denied in September 2010. No new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen these claims.

The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for his coronary artery disease was denied by the Board. The evidence did not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 30 percent.

The Veteran's heart disability is found to be secondary to his service-connected hypothyroidism, and he was granted a 100% rating for his hypothyroidism prior to January 28, 2014.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD and diabetes mellitus, do not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation. The Board finds that he is unable to secure or follow such employment due to his age and the nature of his service-connected conditions.

The Veteran's service connection claim for PTSD has been granted. The Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of PTSD and that this condition is related to his military service, including witnessing SCUD missile attacks while deployed in the Persian Gulf.

The Board finds that the reduction of the rating for service-connected heart disease from 60 to 10 percent effective April 1, 2013 was proper.

The Veteran's heart disease, including his coronary artery bypass graft and mediastinotomy scar, is currently rated at 30 percent. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on current METs or ejection fraction levels.

The Board denied service connection for heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities due to lack of evidence of in-service exposure to herbicide agents.

The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence does not establish that the Appellant had an acute myocardial infarction, a cardiac arrest, or a cerebrovascular accident during active or inactive duty training. Therefore, the Board denies entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claims, including obtaining medical opinions regarding his respiratory disability, upper extremity conditions, and heart condition.

The Veteran's IHD disability needs to be re-evaluated due to the lack of recent examination, and his son reported that his health is deteriorating. The case is REMANDED for a new VA examination.

The Veteran's service-connected ischemic heart disease and PTSD have resulted in a TDIU, with the disability rating for ischemic heart disease being granted at 100%.

The Board found that the Veteran did not have a heart disorder or diabetes mellitus due to service, and thus denied both claims.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, coronary artery disease, and hypertension were denied as there is no evidence of in-service exposure to herbicide agents or any other basis for service connection.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, right shoulder injury (claimed as bilateral shoulder injury/pain), left shoulder injury (claimed as bilateral shoulder injury/pain), right leg injury (claimed as bilateral leg injury/pain), and left leg injury (claimed as bilateral leg injury/pain). The Veteran has not appealed these decisions.

The Veteran's ischemic heart disease is granted service connection on a presumptive basis due to exposure to burn pits during his military service.