The Board has decided to remand the cases for obtaining additional medical records related to the Veteran's heart conditions, as requested by the Appellant. The cause of death was due to acute coronary syndrome and hypertensive heart disease.
The deciding factor: Additional medical records are needed from the early 1950s until the Veteran’s death in 2016 to support the service connection claim for the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Acute coronary syndrome, Hypertensive heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20081683
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease (CAD) with bypass graft as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, and granted a 20 percent disability rating from July 15, 2021 through February 15, 2023 for certain diabetic neuropathies, while denying earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and OSA but denied service connection for hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, right hip pain (secondary to knee disabilities), left ankle disability, and right ankle disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, Parkinson's like symptoms, and hypertensive heart disease to correct duty to assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board granted a motion to vacate its May 2021 decision and dismissed the claims for service connection due to the Veteran's death before the appeal was properly substituted.
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