The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient information regarding the Veteran's service connection for heart disease and pulmonary disorders, including pulmonary hypertension. The VA needs to obtain records from Portsmouth General Hospital and determine if the U.S.S. Shasta (AE-6) sailed within the '12 nautical mile territorial sea' of the Republic of Vietnam during the time the Veteran served on that ship.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's service connection for heart disease and pulmonary disorders, including pulmonary hypertension due to presumed exposure to herbicides. The VA needs to obtain records from Portsmouth General Hospital and determine if the U.S.S. Shasta (AE-6) sailed within the '12 nautical mile territorial sea' of the Republic of Vietnam during the time the Veteran served on that ship.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disease, pulmonary disorder, pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20067935
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pulmonary hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for an eye condition, hearing loss, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes due to a regulatory duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for ischemic heart disease, heart disease, and congestive heart failure as not being related to the Veteran's active service. The Board also denied an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for allergic rhinitis and remanded the other claims for further development.
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