The Veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatoid and polyarthritis is denied as there is no evidence of the disability during service or within one year after separation from service.,Service connection for heart disabilities, including arrhythmia and hypertension, is denied due to lack of competent medical evidence showing a current diagnosis and continuity of symptomatology since service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not establish a nexus between the Veteran's current conditions and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- fatigue, heart disability, liver disability, rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19161107
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19161107.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the AOJ did not obtain all necessary opinions regarding whether the Veteran's symptoms are related to an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness (MUCMI). The claims for service connection for fatigue, fibromyalgia, left elbow disorder, right elbow disorder, and sleep disorder are remanded for further development.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea and hepatic steatosis have been denied. The claim for rheumatoid arthritis is being remanded.,Service connection has not been established for the claimed conditions.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's hypertension was granted service connection effective August 10, 2022. The heart disability was granted secondary to the hypertension.,An initial rating of 30% for the heart disability was granted in May 2023 and increased to 60% since October 22, 2024.
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