The Board has remanded the issue of service connection for a heart disability due to an addendum opinion on whether it is related to herbicide agent exposure in service.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to determine if there is at least a 50% probability that the heart block is causally related to active service, including herbicide agent exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- heart block
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19162930
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 19162930.
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 Board granted an effective date of August 6, 2021 for service connection for heart disease based on the Veteran's exposure to chemicals in service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease with congestive heart failure, automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator, heart block, cardiomyopathy, and senile cardiac amyloidosis as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active service.
- Dismissed
The appeal concerning the issues of service connection for various conditions was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for heart block, finding that it is caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
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