The Board has granted service connection for bronchitis but denied service connection for hypertension as due to undiagnosed illness. The veteran's current rating for bronchitis is 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the veteran’s lung problems, including his chronic bronchitis and COPD, are primarily related to nonservice-connected factors such as smoking history and previous exposure to burning oil wells in the Persian Gulf. The hypertension was not shown during service or within one year of separation.
- Claimed conditions
- Bronchitis, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- June 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0311661
Veterans Law Judge
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0311661.
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 claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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