The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for ventricular arrhythmia and valvular heart disease due to a lack of a medical opinion linking these conditions to his military service, particularly his presumed exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The VA is instructed to obtain all relevant records and provide the Veteran with another opportunity to submit evidence.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was insufficient evidence to establish a link between the Veteran's current cardiac disabilities and his military service, specifically due to the lack of a medical opinion linking these conditions to his presumed exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- ventricular arrhythmia, valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2020
- Citation
- 20021707
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 20021707.
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 increased ratings for valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease of the right and left legs, and hypertension were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has identified errors in the rating decision and is remanding the case for further development to ensure all relevant evidence is considered.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an initial rating higher than 30 percent for cardiomegaly with cardiac hypertrophy and valvular heart disease has been dismissed due to the appellant withdrawing the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for clarification on whether his valvular heart disease is related to his service-connected supraventricular tachycardia, and because the TDIU claim is intertwined with the increased rating claim.
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