The veteran's service-connected heart disability does not cause any functional limitations, and thus he is not shown to have an employment handicap. As a result, the need for vocational rehabilitation training under Chapter 31 of Title 38 has not been demonstrated.
The deciding factor: The veteran's service-connected heart disability does not produce any measurable or observable functional limitations that would constitute an employment handicap.
- Claimed conditions
- organic heart disease atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, external hemorrhoids, residual scar of an injury to the jaw and throat
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 21, 2006
- Citation
- 0604878
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0604878.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for external hemorrhoids was granted with an effective date of July 26, 2022.
- Whole decision: Denied
The claim for payment of non-VA emergency medical care provided to the Veteran at William Beaumont Hospital from October 8, 2020, to October 11, 2020, was denied due to untimely filing.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The appeals seeking service connection for various conditions are dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his requests through his authorized representative.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's implantable cardiac pacemaker is granted as secondary to his service-connected atrial fibrillation. However, the Veteran's ventricular tachycardia is denied as not being related to his service-connected hypertension.
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