The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain an additional medical opinion regarding the impact of his service-connected disabilities on his cause of death.
The deciding factor: The previous VA opinion did not substantially comply with the Board's March 2021 remand directives, as it failed to discuss the severity of the Veteran's left hip and knee disabilities and their effects on his ability to resist disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary artery disease, Left anterior femur myositis ossicans, Left hip arthritis, Left knee degenerative joint disease, Hypertension, End stage renal disease, Profound anemia, Peripheral vascular disease (PVD), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21061902
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- 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 Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- 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.
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