The claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding the etiology of the Veteran's hypertension.
The deciding factor: Additional medical opinions are needed to address whether the Veteran's hypertension onset during service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertensive cardiovascular disease, chronic renal disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20020019
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 20020019.
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 Veteran's hypertension is related to herbicide exposure during service and contributed substantially to his cause of death.,Service connection for both hypertension and the cause of death (hypertensive cardiovascular disease) is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inconsistencies in the evidence regarding the presence and nature of current chronic kidney disability, its relationship to service, and whether there are additional residuals beyond those already service-connected. The Veteran is seeking service connection for a kidney disability that is not already covered by his existing service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and entitlement to VA DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to a need for further evaluation regarding the relationship between any identified pulmonary/respiratory disability, including bronchial asthma, and active service.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU effective November 10, 2014 due to service-connected PTSD and chronic renal disease preventing him from maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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