The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional medical opinions on whether his heart disabilities are related to service, and for an opinion on whether his bilateral hearing loss disability is related to service. The issues of TDIU and right AV block are also inextricably intertwined with these other issues.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the remand directives were not substantially complied with due to missing opinions regarding aggravation and a lack of rationale for an opinion on valvular heart disease being related to hypertension or hypertensive heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease, right atrioventricular block
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 1, 2023
- Citation
- 23006617
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 23006617.
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 Veteran's claims for increased ratings for valvular heart disease, peripheral vascular disease of the right and left legs, and hypertension were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support higher ratings under the applicable rating criteria.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an initial rating higher than 30 percent for cardiomegaly with cardiac hypertrophy and valvular heart disease has been dismissed due to the appellant withdrawing the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for clarification on whether his valvular heart disease is related to his service-connected supraventricular tachycardia, and because the TDIU claim is intertwined with the increased rating claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, specifically failing to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's valvular heart disease and coronary artery calcification is caused or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension.
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