The Board remands the claims for an increased evaluation of coronary artery disease and service connection for macular degeneration due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to ensure correct pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors are corrected, including obtaining a new VA examination for both conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease, macular degeneration
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25039623
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, type II, left eye diabetic retinopathy, left foot diabetic peripheral neuropathy, right foot diabetic peripheral neuropathy, and coronary artery disease, as well as the Veteran's cause of death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for coronary artery disease to correct duty to assist errors, as there are no adequate medical opinions of record.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for glaucoma and macular degeneration, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
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