The Board denied service connection for a heart murmur as there was no evidence of a heart murmur in service and no medical evidence relating the current condition to any event or injury during service.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the appellant's heart murmur to an in-service event, injury, or disease. The only evidence supporting his claim are lay statements which were found to be insufficient to establish a connection between the in-service period and the current disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart murmur, Aortic valve replacement, Coronary bypass grafts
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0908644
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for an addendum VA medical opinion to address whether the Veteran's service-connected conditions have caused or aggravated a heart murmur.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the case needs further development and remands for a VA addendum medical opinion to address whether the Veteran's heart murmur is related to active service, including his 1978 separation physical which listed 'shortness of breath' as a symptom, and whether it is caused by or aggravated by service-connected asthma.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a heart murmur, arthritis of the hip secondary to a low back disorder, and for reopening his claim for a low back disorder as new and material evidence was not submitted.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease, finding no evidence of a relationship between the veteran's military service and these conditions.
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