The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for cause of the veteran's death, which was previously denied. The appellant is now entitled to service connection for cause of her husband's death due to atherosclerotic heart disease caused by essential hypertension.
The deciding factor: The Board found that new medical evidence established that the veteran had essential hypertension during service and that this condition contributed to his atherosclerotic heart disease, which in turn caused his death.
- Claimed conditions
- Essential Hypertension, Atherosclerotic Heart Disease
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 22, 2002
- Citation
- 0202727
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0202727.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for essential hypertension, finding that his systolic pressure was consistently under 160 and diastolic pressure was most commonly under 100 during the review period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for hypertension disability to include high blood pressure, hypertension, or essential hypertension due to insufficient evidence on whether it is related to service. The Veteran's representative argued that his current diagnosis of essential hypertension and a history of elevated BP readings during service may support service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 USC § 1151 due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have precluded him from securing and following substantially gainful employment, warranting a TDIU.
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