Hypertension (high blood pressure) decisions — 2005

The Board has denied service connection for pituitary adenoma, hearing loss, lumbar scoliosis (back pain), and hypertension. The veteran's claim for lumbar scoliosis is pending as the VA examination did not indicate if it was congenital or acquired.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have service connection for hypertension and finds no evidence of a nexus between his current hypothyroidism and his period of active service or any service-connected disability. The veteran's hypothyroidism is currently rated at 60 percent, but the Board grants a 100 percent rating based on the severity of his symptoms.

The veteran is seeking service connection for diabetes mellitus and related conditions, including hypertension, peripheral neuropathy, rectal abscess, retinopathy, and renal insufficiency. The claim will be remanded to the RO for further development.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and for DIC pursuant to 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318(b) due to insufficient evidence linking any service-connected disability to the veteran's death.

The Board denied the veteran's application to reopen his claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted.

The Board has determined that the appellant's hypertension is service-connected and granted a 10% evaluation for his lumbosacral strain.

The Board has denied the veteran's request to reopen his claim of service connection for hypertensive cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. The evidence submitted was not considered new and material.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for varicose veins of the right leg, skin cancer, seborrheic dermatitis, fatigue, depression, cardiac disease, hypertension, and degenerative disc disease of the thoracic and lumbar spine. The preponderance of evidence demonstrated that these conditions were not incurred or aggravated by active duty service.

The veteran's hypertension and enlarged cervical lymph nodes were not incurred or aggravated by service, nor are they related to herbicide exposure. The effective date for the increased rating of 50 percent for residuals of a gunshot wound is set at September 28, 1998.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected hypertension and hypertensive heart disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on current blood pressure readings.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a left eye disability, lung disability (claimed as due to asbestos exposure), hypertension, acute sinusitis, and back condition (claimed as resulting from herbicide exposure). The reasons were that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating of his service-connected anxiety reaction with PTSD was granted, and he is now rated at 30 percent prior to May 22, 2000. Service connection has also been established for heart disorder with hypertension as secondary to the service-connected anxiety reaction with PTSD, and gastroesophageal reflux disease with dyspepsia as secondary to the service-connected anxiety reaction with PTSD.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and hypertension, finding that these conditions were not related to his military service or did not manifest within one year of discharge.

The veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine and left hip are not service-connected. However, his atherosclerotic heart disease to include hypertension is considered incurred in service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and consideration of new evidence. The issues are an increased rating for PTSD and service connection for hypertension.

The Board denied the veteran's appeals for increased ratings and found that his service-connected conditions did not warrant higher evaluations based on the evidence of record.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for anemia, chronic and/or essential thrombocytosis, essential hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and sleep apnea. The appeals were decided on the merits as direct service connection was not established.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, accrued benefits, and nonservice-connected death pension benefits due to lack of legal merit.

The Board found that the veteran's service-connected schizophrenia did not contribute substantially or materially to his death from Staphylococcus aureus sepsis. The medical evidence does not support a direct causal relationship between the veteran's schizophrenia and his cause of death.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for a TDIU rating as they are not sufficient to preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.