The Veteran's appeal regarding a higher rating for his heart disability is being remanded due to the inadequacy of the January 2016 VA examination. A new examination is needed to determine the current severity of his condition.
The deciding factor: The January 2016 VA examination report was internally inconsistent and inadequate for decision-making purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- aortic valve insufficiency, status post porcine valve replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20005552
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · Granted: 36% (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 20005552.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's valvular heart disease and aortic valve insufficiency, which are presumed to be related to herbicide exposure. The case will need further examination and opinion.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's heart conditions of heart block, hypertensive heart disease, and aortic valve insufficiency. The claims for earlier effective dates for individual unemployability, special monthly compensation based on housebound criteria, and Dependents' Educational Assistance are remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include anxiety, and denied an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for hearing loss. Several issues related to service connection were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for aortic valve insufficiency and vascular disease, to include as secondary to hypertension, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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