The Board found that the preponderance of the evidence is against entitlement to service connection for heart murmur, as it was determined that the condition was a congenital defect not aggravated by active service.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show an increase in severity during or after service and there was no indication that the disability increased in severity due to the natural progression of the disease.
- Claimed conditions
- heart murmur
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 12, 2009
- Citation
- 0905084
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for high cholesterol (hyperlipidemia) and remanded the claims for diabetes, hypertension, skin pigmentation, heart murmur, hip replacement, and left leg injury to include a left ankle and left knee condition due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart murmur as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected non-rheumatic aortic stenosis with coronary artery disease.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that her stress fractures of the calcaneal bones were no more than moderate in severity and that she did not have a current right shoulder disability. The claims for service connection for angioedema, hives, abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, heart murmur, migraine headaches, allergic rhinitis, left ankle disability, and prolapsed rectum were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for sclerosis and remanded the claims for heart murmur, left knee osteoarthritis, right knee osteoarthritis, and psoriatic arthritis due to a lack of current diagnosis or evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's service.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.