The Board denied service connection for a heart disorder and a bilateral knee disability, finding that the preponderance of evidence did not support these claims.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no nexus between the Veteran's current heart disorders and his military service or PTSD, and concluded that the conditions were more likely due to natural progression rather than in-service events.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disorder, rheumatic heart disease, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19140841
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 19140841.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease of the right and left legs, and hypertension were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- 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 remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the cause of death and its relation to service. The Veteran's atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and colon cancer are being evaluated for their relationship to toxic exposure during service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for myocardial infarction, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and coronary artery disease was dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his claim.
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