The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional medical opinions regarding his headaches and other conditions. The heart disability remains denied, but the issues of service connection for headaches, right arm and hand shakes when pressure is applied, and pain between shoulder blades, turning of neck, and turning of whole body to look in direction of driving are also being remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's appeal includes claims for service connection that require additional medical opinions due to the complexity of the issues raised. The heart disability remains denied as there is no evidence of left ventricular dysfunction or congestive heart failure, and the Veteran does not meet the criteria for a higher rating under either pre-amendment or post-amendment criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Coronary artery disease with valvular heart disease status post implanted cardiac pacemaker and coronary bypass graft (heart disability), Headaches, Right arm and hand shakes when pressure is applied, Pain between shoulder blades, turning of neck, and turning of whole body to look in direction of driving
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2023
- Citation
- 23055094
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 23055094.
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 denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as secondary to PTSD, but his headaches are denied due to lack of service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's headaches, which manifested as very frequent and prolonged attacks causing severe economic inadaptability, are granted a 50 percent disability rating for the entire period on appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for a 30 percent disability rating for his service-connected headaches, which was awarded with a noncompensable rating at 0 percent. The Board is remanding the claim due to inadequate examination and the need for a new VA examination to evaluate the severity of the Veteran's headaches without considering the ameliorating effects of any medication.
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