The Veteran's claim for service connection for ischemic heart disease (IHD) is denied as he did not have a diagnosed disability prior to or at the time of his death.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension (HTN) and stroke, claimed as secondary to HTN, is remanded due to insufficient evidence addressing whether these conditions are related to herbicide exposure during service.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder including PTSD is also remanded due to insufficient evidence addressing whether this condition is related to HTN or other service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: Without a diagnosed disability, even the provisions for presumptive service connection cannot apply to warrant a grant of service connection.,The requested VA addendum medical opinion did not address whether the Veteran's hypertension was due to his presumed in-service herbicide exposure or as secondary to other conditions. The National Academy of Sciences' findings suggest an association between hypertension and herbicide agent exposure, but this has not been addressed by the VA examiner.,The claims for service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder including PTSD are remanded because insufficient evidence addresses whether these conditions are related to HTN or other service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic heart disease (IHD), Hypertension (HTN), Cerebral vascular accident (CVA) - Stroke, Acquired psychiatric disorder including PTSD
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2022
- Citation
- 22027209
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 22027209.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected hypertension and somatic symptom disorder are denied. The Board has remanded the claims for cardiovascular, peripheral artery disease, and lung cancer with emphysema.
- Remanded (sent back)
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The Board has granted service connection for hypertension (HTN) and has remanded the issues of service connection for cardiomegaly and hypertensive heart disease.
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