The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain additional medical opinions and private treatment records related to the Veteran's cause of death, including his coronary artery disease (CAD).
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs to provide an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's CAD materially contributed to his causes of death.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive cardiomyopathy, Paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2021
- Citation
- 21074457
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 21074457.
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 has decided to remand the case due to incomplete development of medical records, specifically those from a private treatment provider in December 2018. The Veteran needs to provide a new VA Form 21-4142 authorization form for these records to be obtained.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's death is due to morbid obesity and congestive cardiomyopathy, but remanded for further development regarding whether service-connected conditions contributed to his death or if herbicide exposure was a factor.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death, congestive cardiomyopathy, is not considered to be related to service or any service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board previously denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The Court remanded due to ambiguity in the record regarding whether the systolic murmur noted during service played a role in the development of hypertension and other conditions listed on the Veteran’s death certificate. A new medical opinion is needed to clarify this issue.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.