The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration, including evaluating the nature of the Veteran's psychiatric disability under DSM-V criteria and determining whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service stressor. The heart disease claim is also remanded due to its interdependence with the chest pain claim.
The deciding factor: The cases are being remanded because further clarification on the nature of the Veteran's psychiatric disability under DSM-V criteria and a determination regarding whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service stressor, including the reported fear of death due to his ship being struck by a giant wave in 1976, are needed.
- Claimed conditions
- Recurrent pharyngitis, Psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, Heart disease, Chest pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19181503
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 19181503.
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 claims for cerebrovascular strokes and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) are denied as there is no evidence of a nexus between these conditions and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for Parkinson's disease, bladder cancer, and heart disease due to a duty to assist error in failing to consider potential toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) based on the Veteran's military occupational specialty (MOS).
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement (NOD) for claims related to an increased rating and service connection, as well as lack of jurisdiction over a previously granted claim for sinusitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including obtaining additional medical opinions to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed conditions.
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