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.
The deciding factor: The April 2008 VA examiner indicated no current diagnosis of a heart murmur or valvular heart disease. The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Veteran did not have arthritis in the left hip during service, within one year of discharge, and it was unrelated to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder (lumbosacral strain), Heart murmur, Arthritis of the hip
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910630
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 is eligible for payment of attorney fees from benefits resulting from the December 2023 grant of past-due benefits.
- 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 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.
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