The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus type II as a result of exposure to herbicide agents due to additional development needed, including obtaining deck logs from ships in the off-shore waters of Vietnam.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence is required to verify the Veteran’s claimed exposure to herbicide agents aboard ships in the off-shore waters of Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus type II
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19126435
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.
- Partly granted
The Board grants service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's tinnitus began during his period of active duty service. The claims for ischemic heart disease, aortic valve replacement, status post aortic stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease with popliteal aneurysm are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's ischemic heart disease, as the previous opinions were found inadequate.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and penile cancer as there was no evidence of a medical nexus between the Veteran's conditions and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, specifically to verify the Veteran's assertion of herbicide exposure while working on C-123 aircraft at Clark Air Base from May 1965 to November 1966.
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