Hypertension (high blood pressure) decisions — 2014

The Board has determined that the Veteran's hypertension is related to service and secondary to his service-connected PTSD, granting the claim.

The Board has remanded the claims for further development and consideration, including obtaining an opinion on whether service-connected PTSD aggravated hypertension.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including obtaining VA examinations and Social Security Administration records.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining FMLA records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the current severity of his service-connected low back and cervical spine disabilities; hypertension and plantar fasciitis of the left and right feet.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including new examinations and readjudication of his claims. The case will be returned to the Board after these actions are completed.

The Board found that the Veteran's hypertension did not warrant a rating higher than 10 percent, as his blood pressure readings were consistently below the threshold for a higher evaluation.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not have its onset during or is related to his active service and was not caused or aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus and protein-losing nephropathy.

The Veteran's appeal includes claims for service connection for hypertension and a TDIU. The Board has remanded the hypertension claim due to disagreement with its denial, while the TDIU claim is being remanded for additional development.

The Board has determined that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's hypertension is presumptively related to his active duty service in Vietnam, and thus grants the claim for service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's hypertension is related to his military service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus. The evidence did not support a finding of herbicide exposure during service.

The Board has reopened the claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension and granted it, finding that new and material evidence had been received. The Veteran's history of hypertension with an onset in 1968 is supported by his own testimony and medical records.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by or related to his service-connected conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder and hypertension. The cerebrovascular disease is considered a separate condition unrelated to service.

The Veteran's service-connected pseudofolliculitis barbae is currently rated as noncompensably disabling. The Board finds that the June 2010 VA examination was adequate and addresses all relevant aspects of the Veteran's symptomatology.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and the Board is dismissing the case.

The Veteran withdrew his appeals in September 2014, leaving no issues for the Board to decide.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to insufficient examination reports and incomplete information in the claims file.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need to obtain additional private treatment records and provide an addendum opinion regarding the service connection for the Veteran's claimed conditions.

The Board has dismissed the appeal for service connection for memory loss due to withdrawal by the appellant's attorney. The claims of service connection for hypertension, low back strain with neurological damage, and TIAs, stroke, and seizure disorder have been reopened but are denied as there is no evidence linking these conditions to service or post-service treatment records indicate they began within one year following discharge from service. Service connection for DMII and glaucoma has also been denied due to lack of evidence showing their onset in service or a link to service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied as the evidence did not establish a link between his claimed conditions and his active military service, including presumed herbicide exposure. The Board found that testicular cancer is not associated with herbicide exposure.