The Board has determined that the reduction of the disability rating for heart valve replacement surgery from 100 percent to 60 percent was not proper and is void ab initio, as there is no evidence of improvement in the Veteran's condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not show any actual improvement in the Veteran's service-connected heart valve replacement disability, despite the interview-based METs test conducted during the August 2019 VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart Valve Replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- December 15, 2021
- Citation
- A21020058
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 A21020058.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
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- Denied
The Board has determined that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's claim of exposure to herbicide agents in Thailand, and thus service connection for his heart disability cannot be established.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and there is no evidence that VA medical treatment contributed to his death. The cause of death was pneumonia.
- Denied
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