Hypertension (high blood pressure) decisions — 2024

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to August 10, 2022 for the grant of service connection for hypertension is being remanded due to a duty-to-assist error. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran submitted evidence relevant to his claim with his September 2023 notice of disagreement.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain, hypertension, shortness of breath, and sleep apnea due to potential exposure to burn pits during his deployment in Afghanistan. The Veteran is required to undergo a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to his military service.

The Veteran's service connection claims for various musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal conditions are granted. The claim for obstructive sleep apnea is denied.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that her current hypertension is not related to an in-service diagnosis and is instead due to intercurrent causes.

The Board has dismissed the appellant's appeals for service connection on all nine issues due to her AMA opt-in from the August 2024 SSOC.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for atrial fibrillation has been added as an issue on appeal due to evidence suggesting a possible relationship between his service-connected hypertension and the condition.,For chronic kidney disease, the Veteran is not entitled to a compensable evaluation prior to April 24, 2024.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings of atrial fibrillation, hypertension, tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss, and a surgical bypass scar were denied. The effective date for the grant of a 30 percent rating for atrial fibrillation was not earlier than May 1, 2020.,Compensable ratings for hypertension, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss were also denied. A compensable rating for the surgical bypass scar was not granted.,The Veteran's TDIU claim was denied as his combined service-connected disability rating did not meet the threshold for a TDIU.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to August 10, 2022, for the award of service connection for hypertension is denied. The Board finds that an earlier effective date is not warranted as the Veteran did not have any pending claims of service connection for hypertension prior to this date. However, the Veteran's claim for a higher initial rating for his service-connected hypertension is remanded due to the failure to notify him of scheduled VA examinations.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension as secondary to coronary artery disease, finding that it is at least likely as not caused by the Veteran's service-connected condition.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral persistent tinnitus but has remanded the claim of high blood pressure due to insufficient medical opinions.

The appeal for service connection for hypertension is dismissed because the Veteran filed his appeal while additional development was still pending.

The Board has granted service connection for OSA and hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected chronic rhinosinusitis and deviated septum. However, a compensable rating for his deviated septum is denied.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and remanded it due to new evidence, including a change in law (PACT Act) that may apply. The main issue is whether the presumptive conditions contributed to the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension was dismissed because he did not file a timely notice of disagreement within the one-year period following notification of his November 2014 rating decision.

The Board has decided to remand the claims of service connection for hearing loss, hypertension, and scarring from surgery due to inadequate medical opinions. The Veteran's exposure basis is not specified.

The Board has decided that the Veteran's hypertension is not service-connected, and they have ordered a remand to obtain an opinion regarding whether her hypertension is secondary to her service-connected PTSD.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for membranous glomerulopathy (claimed as diabetic nephropathy) secondary to hepatitis C is granted. The claim for hypertension is denied, and the claim for diabetes mellitus, type I, with retinopathy secondary to hepatitis C is remanded.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for hypertension, finding that his systolic blood pressure was consistently below 160 and diastolic pressure readings were consistently below 100. The evidence did not support a history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more.

The Veteran's service-connected hypertension has not been manifested by diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more; by systolic pressure predominantly 160 or more, and requires continuous medication for control. Therefore, the claim for an initial compensable rating for hypertension is denied.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back pain, skin conditions, knee issues, and hypertension, were denied. The Board found that there was no evidence to support the Veteran's assertions of in-service injury or aggravation.,Specifically, the Board determined that the Veteran did not have a current diagnosis of dermatitis or eczema, and his claimed back condition, right knee conditions, left knee conditions, hypertension, lumbar radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and lumbar radiculopathy of the right lower extremity were not caused by service.