The Veteran's initial claims for increased ratings for coronary artery disease status post bypass graft and associated scar have been remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA is required to schedule the Veteran for examinations to assess the current severity of his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: There was an omission of VA examinations prior to the initial rating decision, which violates the duty to assist.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease status post bypass graft, scar, status post coronary artery bypass graft
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2022
- Citation
- A22022906
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 A22022906.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD prevented him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.,Given the grant of TDIU based on his service-connected PTSD, the Veteran has a single service-connected disability rated as total (PTSD) and additional service-connected disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to deficiencies in the record existing prior to the appealed decision, including inadequate VA examinations and failure to obtain a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) opinion for sleep apnea. The Veteran's representative raised concerns about the adequacy of previous opinions and the need for additional development.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for a compensable disability rating for scar, status post coronary artery bypass graft and service connection for sinusitis were denied. The Board found no current disabilities for either condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an effective date prior to June 9, 2013 for service-connected coronary artery disease and scar, status post coronary artery bypass graft. The decision states that the earliest effective dates were one year after the initial claim was received.
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