The Board has decided to remand the case due to uncertainty in the etiology of endocarditis, which is not presumed to be related to herbicide exposure. The Veteran's service record includes a period within Vietnam during the Vietnam Era.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient evidence to determine if endocarditis developed as a result of herbicide exposure or was a temporary manifestation of treatment for nonservice-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- endocarditis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20028563
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 20028563.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for shortness of breath, endocarditis, lipoma, and skin cancer as the Veteran withdrew his appeal. The claim for peripheral arterial disease was denied due to a lack of evidence supporting a current diagnosis. Service connection for a back condition was also denied due to insufficient evidence linking it to service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for myelodysplastic syndrome/leukemia, anemia, and hemochromatosis with effective dates of May 7, 2018, June 27, 2019, and June 27, 2019 respectively. The Board also denied service connection for endocarditis, myocarditis, and obstructive sleep apnea.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension and denied it for ischemic heart disease. Several other claims were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for endocarditis as there is no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service occurrence of this condition.
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