BVA Case 22-6162: Back

In an August 2017 decision,the Board denied the appellant's claims.

The Board noted that VA did not obtain an opinion regarding Agent Orange exposure because Agent Orange was used in the demilitarized zone in Korea between April 1,1968,and August 31,1971,and not during the veteran's active duty years of service.

In September 2018,the RO declined to reopen claims for service connection for a heart condition and TDIU, finding that the veteran had not submitted new and material evidence.

December 2020,March 2021,July 2021, and March 2022 Board Remands In a December 2020 order, the Board found that the August 2017 Board decision that denied service connection for a heart disorder (and other conditions)was final but that the medical opinion the veteran had submitted suggested a causal link between his current disability and service and was new and material evidence sufficient to reopen his claim.

In a March 2022 order,the Board noted that in an April 2021 VA heart conditions examination,the examiner found that hypertensive cardiovascular disease is a group of disorders that includes heart failure and the examiner opined that the veteran's congestive heart failure was less likely incurred in or caused by service because of a lack of evidence of a heart condition in the veteran's service treatment records.

The Board found the examiner's opinion inadequate because while the September 2017 private examiner did not include any rationale for his opinion,he did relate the veteran's heart condition to his performance of military service,and the examiner did not address this evidence or discuss the veteran's military occupational specialty or his service in Korea .

The Board noted that,as it described in its March 2021 and July 2021 remands,the matter of TDIU was intertwined with the claim for service connection for a heart condition and remanded the matter with it.

The examiner explained that per the veteran's assertions and the medical records,his heart disabilities were incurred many years after active duty,and the long interval between his military service and development of the conditions is against an etiological nexus between the two.