The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of medical evidence on whether the Veteran's death was caused by service-connected conditions, including presumed herbicide exposure. The VA is required to obtain an opinion from a clinician regarding the cause of the Veteran's death and its relation to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA failed to provide necessary medical assistance in obtaining evidence related to the cause of the Veteran's death, including whether it was caused by presumed herbicide exposure during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Congestive Heart Failure, Alcoholic Myocarditis, Cardiac Arrest
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2024
- Citation
- A24064139
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 352 · Granted: 37% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A24064139.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a new VA examination focusing on his service-connected disabilities and their impact on his eligibility for benefits, as well as his need for aid and attendance.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of 100 percent for CAD was granted effective November 28, 2023. The effective date is based on the date of a VA examination showing the increase in disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for Congestive Heart Failure with Atrial Fibrillation with AICD and Hypertension (High Blood Pressure), finding that there was no evidence of direct service connection, and that the conditions were not caused or aggravated by service-connected OSA.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for congestive heart failure, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability related to his military service. The Veteran's private cardiologist and VA examiner both opined against a link between his current condition and service.
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