The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for heart disease, including ischemic heart disease and cardiomyopathy to include as due to exposure to herbicides, an evaluation higher than 20 percent disabling for degenerative disc syndrome previously claimed as intervertebral disc syndrome, and service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The remand requires contacting the Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) to verify the Veteran's alleged in-service exposure to herbicide agents, including Agent Orange, at Fort McClellan, Alabama.
The deciding factor: The claims are being remanded due to a need for further investigation and verification of the Veteran's claimed in-service exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disease, ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21027493
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 21027493.
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 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 ischemic heart disease is granted as presumptively related to his service in the Gulf War, specifically aboard the USS Chanticleer and USS Mataco.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a heart disability prior to his death is granted as he was entitled to accrued benefits due to the September 1994 claim, which included ischemic heart disease, a covered herbicide disease.
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