The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional medical evaluations and clarification of his claims, particularly regarding the relationship between PTSD and his heart conditions.
The deciding factor: New evidence indicates a recent stroke, which would negate previous opinions on the impact of PTSD on his heart condition.
- Claimed conditions
- arteriosclerotic heart disease, essential hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2003
- Citation
- 0309023
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 0309023.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease, finding that the evidence is within approximate balance that it was caused by toxic exposure during service in Southwest Asia.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable rating for essential hypertension as the Veteran's blood pressure did not meet the criteria for a 10 percent rating, and remanded the issue of entitlement to a total disability rating due to individual unemployability.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a separate initial 20 percent rating for right knee meniscal tear based on limitation of knee flexion, and an initial 60 percent rating for arteriosclerotic heart disease. It also granted TDIU due to service-connected residuals of prostate cancer.
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