The Veteran's service connection claim for chronic diastolic heart failure is being remanded due to the need for an addendum opinion regarding the likely etiology of his condition, which may be related to exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to provide a more detailed opinion on whether the Veteran's current heart condition is related to his conceded exposure to Agent Orange.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic diastolic heart failure
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19127867
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,990 · Granted: 35% (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 19127867.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's application for specially adapted housing and special home adaptation grants was denied as he does not meet the eligibility requirements due to his service-connected disabilities not meeting the regulatory requirements.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension, atrial fibrillation and chronic diastolic heart failure, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are granted as service-connected due to herbicide agent exposure under the PACT Act.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic diastolic heart failure was granted. The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 80 percent for nephropathy prior to May 27, 2016 and his claim for a total disability rating for nephropathy from May 27, 2016 to June 7, 2018 were both granted. However, the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's heart conditions are related to herbicide exposure during service.
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