The Board has determined that there is no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's heart disability to his service-connected disabilities, including Type-II diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the claim for service connection for a heart disability as secondary to service-connected disability is denied.
The deciding factor: There is no credible scientific or medical evidence demonstrating that the veteran's service-connected disabilities were likely to worsen his nonservice-connected heart disability beyond its expected natural progression.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2008
- Citation
- 0840936
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 0840936.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension was granted service connection effective August 10, 2022. The heart disability was granted secondary to the hypertension.,An initial rating of 30% for the heart disability was granted in May 2023 and increased to 60% since October 22, 2024.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a heart disability, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for cervical spine disability, heart disability, and rheumatoid arthritis due to procedural errors in obtaining necessary medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, heart disability, sleep apnea, asthma, and chronic bronchitis as new and relevant evidence was not received to reopen these claims. The Veteran did not have current diagnoses of asthma or chronic bronchitis during the appeal period.
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