The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected heart disabilities due to insufficient consideration of relevant evidence and a need for a new VA examination.
The deciding factor: The Court found that the Board failed to address material evidence regarding the Veteran’s symptoms, including recent medical records showing increased fatigue and cardiomegaly.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease status post coronary artery bypass graft with aortic valve (root) replacement, aortic aneurysm
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20065692
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 Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, valvular heart disease (chest pain and cardiac valve stenosis), aortic aneurysm, and hypertension as these conditions were not found to be etiologically related to the Veteran's active duty service.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of November 15, 2022 for the award of service connection for aortic aneurysm as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for aortic aneurysm, finding no evidence of a causal relationship between the condition and his active-duty service. The claim for COPD was remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for aortic aneurysm, finding that it is at least as likely as not due to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
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