The Board denied the Veteran's claims for higher initial evaluations for unspecified anxiety disorder and service-connected heart disability from March 31, 2021 to December 28, 2022.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not demonstrate that the Veteran's symptoms more closely approximated occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas or a workload of 3.1-5.0 METs resulting in heart failure symptoms during the relevant period.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) with coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction, mild left ventricular hypertrophy echo, mild mitral valve regurgitation echo, mildly dilated left atrium echo, mild pulmonic insufficiency echo, unspecified anxiety disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2025
- Citation
- A25109699
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 A25109699.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder alone warrants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), and he has additional service-connected disabilities rated at least 60 percent. The Board grants special monthly compensation (SMC) at the housebound rate.
- Granted
The Veteran's anxiety and depressive disorders were rated at a 70 percent disability rating effective May 6, 2015.,Effective May 6, 2015, the Veteran was granted an earlier effective date for DEA benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD, memory loss, a sleep disorder, and uncontrollable alcohol disorder), is being remanded due to the need for a medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, kleptomania, and PTSD is being remanded due to the AOJ's failure to obtain medical records from his periods of incarceration or a medical opinion regarding his diagnoses.
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