The Board has remanded the appellant's claims for nonservice-connected burial benefits and accrued benefits due to outstanding VA treatment records related to the Veteran's heart attack in 2003. The appellant contends that a claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits was pending at the time of her husband's death, but there are no relevant VA treatment records available.
The deciding factor: There are no relevant VA treatment records available to determine if a claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits was pending at the time of the Veteran’s death.
- Claimed conditions
- heart attack
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19114373
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 19114373.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for sleep apnea, headaches, alcohol use disorder (claimed as depression/anxiety), hypertension, and heart attack due to potential service connection based on aggravation of a pre-existing condition or secondary to other service-connected disabilities. Additional medical opinions are required regarding the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for coronary artery disease is remanded due to the need for a medical opinion regarding exposure to burn pits during his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for earlier effective dates for the award of service connection and increased rating for ischemic heart disease was dismissed as it is not a valid freestanding claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the cause of death and its relation to service. The Appellant needs to provide additional private treatment records, and a VA clinician will need to review these records to determine if the Veteran's cause of death was misdiagnosed or related to in-service exposure at Camp Lejeune.
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