BVA Case 93-1203: Back

3 The Board found that the evidence did not establish that "the veteran's heart disease manifested by systolic murmur was incurred or aggravated during active service".

The Board found that the evidence received since the 1956 Board decision "does not establish any facts different from those previously found" and that the veteran "did not have hypertension in service or for several years thereafter".

The Board concluded that that evidence did not establish "a new factual basis for a grant of service connection for heart disease manifested by systolic murmur" and that a heart disability was not incurred in or aggravated by service.

A January 1991 RO decision found that the letter was not new and material and denied reopening of the claim.

The RO found in January 1992 that that letter constituted new and material evidence and reopened the veteran's claim.

In the July 12, 1993, BVA decision here on appeal, the Board found that the newly submitted evidence was cumulative and insufficient to reopen the claim for service connection for a heart condition.

Generally Applicable Law The Secretary must reopen a previously and finally disallowed claim when "new and material evidence" is presented or secured with respect to the basis for the denial of that claim.

First, it must determine whether the evidence presented or secured since the prior final disallowance of the claim is new and material "when viewed in the context of all the evidence, both new and old", Colvin v.