The Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease, is denied as there is no current diagnosis of such conditions and the evidence does not establish a link to service or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: There is no current diagnosis of a heart condition or ischemic heart disease in the record. The Veteran's STRs do not show any complaints, symptoms, treatment, or diagnoses related to these conditions. A VA examination found no objective evidence of a heart condition. There is also no direct service connection as there was no in-service event and no link between current conditions and service.
- Claimed conditions
- heart condition, ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19197040
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 19197040.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board grants service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's tinnitus began during his period of active duty service. The claims for ischemic heart disease, aortic valve replacement, status post aortic stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease with popliteal aneurysm are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for GERD, a heart condition, hypertension, a kidney condition, and obstructive sleep apnea as there is no evidence of current disabilities related to these conditions or that they are etiologically linked to the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new medical opinion to address whether the Appellant's heart condition had onset during his period of ACDUTRA service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's ischemic heart disease, as the previous opinions were found inadequate.
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