The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected PTSD contributed to his death. The appellant and her representative have provided medical articles suggesting a link between PTSD, coronary artery disease, diabetes, and other conditions. However, no definitive opinion is available in the record.
The deciding factor: The Board needs additional medical opinions on the relationship between the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD and his cause of death to determine if it was a contributory factor.
- Claimed conditions
- Atherosclerotic and diabetic cardiomyopathy, Morbid obesity
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19101245
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19101245.
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
The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea, finding that it is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities with obesity as an intermediary step.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 USC 1318 due to a need for a medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death, considering toxic exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and his cause of death. The case is being remanded for further action.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the cause of the Veteran's death and its relationship to service-connected conditions. The claim is being returned for further development.
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