The Veteran's death was attributed to acidosis due to or as a consequence of tricuspid regurgitation, renal failure, and heart failure. The Board has remanded the case for further evaluation regarding service connection for ischemic heart disease claimed as due to exposure to herbicide agents.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs to provide an updated opinion on whether the Veteran's first or second heart had IHD related to his in-service exposure to herbicide agents, and if so, whether such a condition was a principal or contributory cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19118991
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19118991.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
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 of service connection for a heart disability and hypertension due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors. The AOJ is required to obtain addendum medical opinions regarding toxic exposure risk activities (TERA).
- Granted
The Board has restored service connection for Ischemic Heart Disease, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Diabetes Mellitus type II, Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower left extremity sciatic nerve, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower right extremity sciatic nerve, and Hypertension. The Board found that the original grant of service connection was not clearly erroneous due to the Veteran's exposure along the DMZ in Korea.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for ischemic heart disease prior to March 19, 2024 was denied. From March 19, 2024, the Veteran is rated at 60 percent for IHD and TDIU claims are not granted.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent prior to April 18, 2022 for Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) was denied.,The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent from April 18, 2022 to December 22, 2022 for IHD is pending and requires further development.
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