The Veteran's disability rating of 100 percent for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is restored effective January 1, 2015. The Board has also remanded the issue of service connection for Actinic Keratosis due to a lack of VA examination and relevant medical records.
The deciding factor: The reduction in the Veteran's CAD rating was improper as there was no evidence showing improvement in his disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Actinic keratosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19160359
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,454 · Granted: 23% (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 19160359.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU and SMC for housebound status are granted based on service-connected PTSD from October 12, 2023, and CAD from October 1, 2022. The appeals were granted due to the severity of these conditions preventing the Veteran from securing or following substantially gainful employment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD) is being remanded for a VA examination to determine its current severity and for the consideration of any outstanding private medical records.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU rating based on depressive disorder is granted from October 17, 2018 to March 26, 2019. SMC at the housebound rate is also granted prior to March 26, 2019.
- Granted
The rating for the Veteran's service-connected coronary artery disease (CAD) was restored to 100 percent effective December 1, 2025.,The rating for the Veteran's service-connected specified stressor related disorder (psychiatric disability) was restored to 70 percent effective December 1, 2025.
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