The Board has remanded the case for further examination and opinion regarding service connection for a heart disability, specifically whether it is related to in-service herbicide agent exposure. The back condition claim remains denied.
The deciding factor: Further medical evaluation is needed to determine if the Veteran's identified heart disease qualifies as ischemic heart disease and whether it is at least as likely as not related to in-service herbicide agent exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Back condition, Heart disability
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2018
- Citation
- 18139826
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 18139826.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a heart disability, finding that the Veteran's current heart diagnoses are not related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection of his back condition due to inadequate medical opinion and failure to consider all relevant evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the case for further action on heart disability. The decision regarding right shoulder disability is that it was not incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to March 2, 2015, for TDIU was denied as the evidence did not show actual worsening within one year prior to his March 2, 2015, claim.
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