The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and missing VISTA records. The Veteran's heart condition, including ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, and ventricular arrhythmia, is being reviewed for service connection as due to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s report was inadequate and there are outstanding VISTA medical records that need to be obtained.
- Claimed conditions
- heart condition, ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, ventricular arrhythmia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20074858
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 998 · Granted: 40% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20074858.
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 the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD was granted with an initial evaluation of 50 percent, effective September 24, 2007. The appeal regarding the heart condition and sleep disorder is denied. The Veteran's hearing loss prior to August 24, 2015, warrants a 20 percent rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
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