The Board remands the claim for service connection for valvular heart disease to obtain outstanding treatment records and an adequate VA opinion.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to the need for additional evidence regarding exposure to herbicide agents and potential aggravation of the condition by a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- valvular heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2024
- Citation
- 24032300
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 is granted a 100 percent rating for valvular heart disease based on MET testing showing that at a workload of 3 METs or less, the condition results in fatigue and breathlessness.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral cataracts, dry eye syndrome, allergic conjunctivitis, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and atrial fibrillation as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by an in-service event.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for supraventricular arrhythmia, chronic paronychia, psoriasis and rosacea (claimed as skin condition), pulmonary nodules, and valvular heart disease.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 6, 2021 for service connection for heart disease based on the Veteran's exposure to chemicals in service.
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