The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for coronary artery disease has been granted, with the effective date set at September 16, 2015.,Service connection for skin cancer is granted based on herbicide exposure during active service.,Service connection for scars secondary to service-connected skin cancer is also granted.,Increased ratings for a cervical spine strain are remanded for further examination and rating determination.,The Veteran's current 20 percent rating for the period following May 7, 2018, remains unchanged.
The deciding factor: The effective date of September 16, 2015, is granted as it was when the Veteran first submitted an informal claim for service connection.,Service connection for skin cancer is granted based on herbicide exposure during active service.,Service connection for scars secondary to service-connected skin cancer is granted due to medical evidence indicating a link between the condition and the Veteran's now service-connected skin cancer.,Increased ratings are remanded as VA examinations did not provide sufficient information regarding the extent of functional loss caused by pain in the cervical spine.,The current 20 percent rating for the period following May 7, 2018, remains unchanged.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease, skin cancer, scar of the right wrist, horizontal scar of right lower back, vertical scar of the right lower back, scar of the right upper chest, scar of the right lateral neck
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 27, 2021
- Citation
- 21076799
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 21076799.
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 an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke as there was no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service and the medical opinions were against a nexus to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for coronary artery disease with myocardial infarction is granted on a presumptive basis due to exposure to herbicide agents during his active duty in Korea.
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