The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a heart condition, attributing it to lack of evidence linking his current conditions to active duty service or any in-service exposure. The decision also noted that the Veteran did not provide sufficient information regarding alleged chemical and asbestos exposures during service.
The deciding factor: There was no credible medical evidence connecting the Veteran's current heart conditions to his active duty service, including any claimed chemical or asbestos exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart Condition, Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart block, valvular heart disease, essential hypertension, mixed hyperlipidemia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20066481
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a 100 percent rating for valvular heart disease based on MET testing showing that at a workload of 3 METs or less, the condition results in fatigue and breathlessness.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a lack of sufficient evidence addressing all contentions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral cataracts, dry eye syndrome, allergic conjunctivitis, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by an in-service event.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for supraventricular arrhythmia, chronic paronychia, psoriasis and rosacea (claimed as skin condition), pulmonary nodules, and valvular heart disease.
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