The Board remands the appeal for a more definitive medical nexus opinion regarding whether the veteran's atrial septal defect was aggravated during service.
The deciding factor: The March 2006 VA examiner provided an opinion that is not in line with the required standard, necessitating further examination to clarify the issue.
- Claimed conditions
- atrial septal defect, status post surgical repair
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2008
- Citation
- 0812002
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 Board granted an effective date of January 25, 2019, for the award of service connection for atrial septal defect.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for both atrial septal defect and bilateral deuteranopia, finding that these conditions are congenital defects not aggravated by military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, to include supraventricular arrhythmia, valvular heart disease, and atrial septal defect, as there has not been substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
- Dismissed
The Board found no clear and unmistakable error in the 1976 decision denying service connection for organic heart disease, as the correct facts were known at the time and there was no evidence of aggravation during service.
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