Ischemic heart disease decisions — 2024

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to incomplete records and inadequate medical opinions. The appellant's right shoulder and hip disabilities may be related to her Reserve service, but more evidence is needed. Her sleep apnea claim includes PTSD as a contributing factor. Heart disability diagnoses are unclear, and further examination is required.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension as secondary to coronary artery disease, finding that it is at least likely as not caused by the Veteran's service-connected condition.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and remanded it due to new evidence, including a change in law (PACT Act) that may apply. The main issue is whether the presumptive conditions contributed to the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a TDIU rating is denied as there was no pending unadjudicated claim and the previous decisions were final.

The Board has determined that there were duty to assist errors in the initial rating decisions and has remanded both issues of service connection for a heart disability and a bilateral foot virus for further development.

The Board denied an effective date prior to December 21, 2020, for a 100 percent rating for ischemic heart disease with angina status post stent placement.,The Board also denied an effective date prior to December 21, 2020, for basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits.

The Veteran's claims for eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing (SAH) and a special home adaptation grant were remanded due to the AOJ overlooking favorable legal determinations that greatly expanded his service-connected disability picture.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development regarding service connection for lower extremity peripheral neuropathy and TDIU.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of April 29, 2021 for a 60% disability rating for his service-connected coronary artery disease with left ventricular hypertrophy. The evidence did not show that he met the criteria for a higher rating prior to this date.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a lack of proper form submission, as the RO had not yet made a final decision.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the 60 percent rating for service-connected ischemic heart disease is denied. The Board found that a factually ascertainable increase in disability was not present within one year prior to December 10, 2019. For the period before November 14, 2021, the Veteran's claim for an increased rating is also denied as there is no evidence of chronic congestive heart failure or a workload of 3.0 METs or less resulting in heart failure symptoms.

The appeals for service connection of various disabilities have been dismissed as the Veteran has withdrawn his appeal. The issue of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate opinions regarding service connection for a heart disorder, specifically PTSD. The examiner is asked to consider and address an article provided by the appellant.

The Veteran's hypertension is rated at 60% from January 19, 2010. The Board denied a higher rating for hypertension and granted TDIU effective from January 19, 2010.,Prior to January 19, 2010, the Veteran did not meet the schedular requirements for TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's petitions to readjudicate his claims of service connection for thyroid carcinoma, bilateral hearing loss, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, and hypertension as no new and relevant evidence was presented.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for coronary artery disease due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in the November 2022 medical opinion. Additional opinions are needed regarding obesity as an intermediate step and potential toxic exposure risk activity (TERA).

The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for coronary artery disease (CAD) is remanded due to the failure to obtain a VA medical opinion that addressed the contention regarding two-dimensional diagnostic imaging and its impact on the severity of CAD symptoms.

The Veteran's CAD is rated at 30 percent, effective March 12, 2020. The VA also granted a TDIU from March 12, 2020 to August 20, 2022, and SMC from August 21, 2022.

The Veteran's claims for service connection related to DM, diabetic peripheral neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy, hypertension, and CAD have been granted under the PACT Act. The Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents in Guam.,Service connection has also been established for prostate cancer and Parkinson's Disease.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a TDIU rating is denied as there was no pending unadjudicated claim at the time of his May 2019 increased rating claim for PTSD.