The Board is remanding the case to obtain additional medical opinions regarding whether the first-degree atrioventricular block noted during service was an immediate or underlying cause of death, and if not, whether it contributed substantially or materially to death. The appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death will be reconsidered based on this new evidence.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the VA medical opinion relied upon by the Board was inadequate due to equivocal language used and lack of consideration of the Veteran's final hospitalization records. The remand requires obtaining these records and providing an additional opinion from a VA cardiologist.
- Claimed conditions
- atriioventricular block
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2014
- Citation
- 1421097
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 1421097.
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
An effective date of February 16, 2023, but no earlier, for the grant of service connection for hypertensive heart disease with valvular heart disease and atrioventricular block is granted. The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded to determine if he was unemployable solely by reason of his service-connected hypertensive heart disease with valvular heart disease and atrioventricular block prior to November 14, 2023.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, atrioventricular block and congestive heart failure are related to in-service toxic exposure risk activities (TERA).,The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II is also related to in-service TERA.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various heart disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support a nexus to service and thus denying the claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher disability ratings for his service-connected coronary artery disease, status post coronary artery bypass grafts and atrioventricular block status post implantable cardiac pacemaker are being remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.
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