The Board has determined that the March 2017 decision denying service connection for a heart disorder, a compensable rating for hemorrhoids, and determining there was no CUE in a May 1993 rating decision is vacated due to procedural errors. The appeal of whether CUE occurred in the May 1993 rating decision is deemed abandoned by the Court. The March 2017 Board decision is hereby vacated as to the CUE issue due to the due process violation. The claims for service connection for a heart disorder, an initial compensable rating for cervical spine disability prior to September 6, 2006, and a compensable rating for hemorrhoids are remanded.
The deciding factor: Due process violations occurred in the March 2017 Board decision which denied service connection for a heart disorder, a compensable rating for hemorrhoids, and determined there was no CUE in a May 1993 rating decision. The Court vacated these decisions due to procedural errors.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disorder, cervical spine disability, hemorrhoids
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19119985
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (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 19119985.
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.
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The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to errors in obtaining relevant medical records and authorization for private treatment providers. The issues include heart disorder, OSA, sinusitis, lumbar spine disorder, and right knee disorder all related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
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