The Veteran's atrial fibrillation is being remanded for further development as the claims file does not contain all relevant medical records and an addendum opinion is needed to assess the severity of his condition.
The deciding factor: Further evidence is required, including private medical records from July 2013 until the Veteran's death in December 2013/January 2014, and an addendum opinion as to the nature and severity of his atrial fibrillation.
- Claimed conditions
- atriial fibrillation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20067744
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for esophageal cancer and cause of death due to atrial fibrillation, as well as prostate cancer. The remand includes obtaining additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's conditions and exposure history.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the DIC claim due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the cause of death and the relationship between service-connected conditions and the Veteran's death. The VA needs to obtain new opinions addressing these issues.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for atrial fibrillation and has remanded the issue of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) to obtain a medical opinion on whether it was aggravated by a service-connected disability or treatment.
- Denied
The Veteran's TDIU claim is denied as the appeal for TDIU based on a single service-connected disability has been rendered moot due to his already having a combined 100 percent schedular rating.
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