The Board remands the matter for a new medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's cause of death was caused or worsened by VA treatment and to obtain any outstanding relevant records.
The deciding factor: A remand is necessary due to an inadequate initial determination and missing records from McLaren Bay Region.
- Claimed conditions
- Myocardial infarction, Pneumonia, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2021
- Citation
- 21061353
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 readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, COPD, a gastrointestinal disability, and migraines due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and her military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to a lack of sufficient evidence addressing all contentions.
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