The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected valvular heart disease. The RO will also consider his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
The deciding factor: The case has been referred back to the RO due to the inextricably intertwined nature of the issues, including the need to evaluate the veteran's ability to work and the severity of his service-connected valvular heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 9, 2002
- Citation
- 0217702
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0217702.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a 100 percent rating for valvular heart disease based on MET testing showing that at a workload of 3 METs or less, the condition results in fatigue and breathlessness.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral cataracts, dry eye syndrome, allergic conjunctivitis, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by an in-service event.
- Dismissed
The claim for service connection for valvular heart disease is dismissed as the Veteran was granted a full grant of benefits for coronary artery disease, which is considered a full grant of the benefits sought on appeal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for supraventricular arrhythmia, chronic paronychia, psoriasis and rosacea (claimed as skin condition), pulmonary nodules, and valvular heart disease.
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