Ischemic heart disease decisions — 2025

The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for hypothyroidism with adjustment disorder with depressed mood and an earlier effective date of January 14, 2021, for the award of service connection for bilateral cataracts associated with hypothyroidism.

The Board denied increased ratings for myocardial infarction, mitral regurgitation, hypertensive heart disease, and coronary artery disease, but granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to May 22, 2019.

The Board granted readjudication of service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and coronary artery disease based on new and relevant evidence, but remanded the claims for further development.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, and atherosclerotic heart disease to obtain additional medical opinions.

The Board remands the claim for service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.

The Board remands the claims for an initial compensable rating for prostate cancer, service connection for an eye disorder, a cardiovascular disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea due to inadequate VA examinations.

The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, finding no evidence of in-service exposure to herbicides and no direct link between the Veteran's service and his CAD.

The Board denied service connection for ischemic heart disease and early-onset peripheral neuropathy, finding no evidence of these conditions during the Veteran's service or after. The earliest effective date for entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death was February 3, 2006.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including cerebrovascular disease, depression, hepatitis C, irregular heartbeat, and a heart disorder, to obtain additional medical evidence regarding their etiology.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding no evidence of a formal or informal claim prior to October 25, 2012.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for hypertension and ischemic heart disease, as they need further development before a decision can be made.

The Board denied service connection for a heart disability and hypertension, both claimed as due to exposure to tactical herbicide agents.

The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate based on his service-connected ischemic heart disease alone warranting total disability and additional service-connected disabilities rated at least 60 percent.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus II as new and relevant evidence had not been received since the prior final disallowance. The heart condition claim was remanded due to a duty to assist error.

The Board denied service connection for ischemic heart disease for purposes of entitlement to accrued benefits under Nehmer v. Department of Veterans Affairs, as there was no diagnosis of the condition during or proximate to the appeal period.

The Board granted earlier effective dates of June 22, 2023, for the award of service connection and increased ratings for right and left lower extremity neuropathy. The claim for degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease was readjudicated, and a higher initial disability rating was assigned. The appeal for an earlier effective date and increased rating for coronary artery disease was denied.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection were granted, while the claim for a compensable rating for hypertension was denied. A 40 percent rating was granted for diabetes mellitus type II with retinopathy.

The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, a heart disability (coronary artery disease), and hypertension based on the presumption of herbicide exposure due to the Veteran's service in the territorial waters of Vietnam.

The Veteran was granted an earlier effective date of February 5, 2020, for the grant of service connection for peripheral arterial disease and a 100 percent evaluation for heart disease.

The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 26, 2019, for service connection for hypertension but denied the same for heart disability, DM, and prostate cancer.