The veteran is seeking service connection for coronary artery disease and osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, both claimed as secondary to his service-connected disability. The Board has determined that additional development is needed in order to make a determination on these claims.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided are not specific enough to determine whether the veteran's service-connected psychiatric condition contributed to or aggravated his current cardiac and lumbar spine disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease, status post myocardial infarction, osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0611435
Veterans Law Judge
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0611435.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the claims on appeal, including obtaining any outstanding treatment records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the current severity of service-connected disabilities. The Veteran's representative also requested reevaluation of his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, right and left upper extremity radiculopathy, sleep disturbances, a right knee disability, osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, allergic rhinitis, and patellofemoral syndrome with degenerative arthritis in the left knee. The Board found that there was insufficient evidence to support these claims.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability, including osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine. The Board found that there was no evidence to support direct service connection but established continuity and chronicity under VA regulations.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for increased ratings and service connection, finding no persuasive evidence that the criteria for increased evaluations were met prior to the respective claim or examination dates.
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