The Board granted an increased rating of 20 percent for the service-connected left shoulder disability and reopened the claim of service connection for hypertension, but remanded it for further development due to incomplete examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a clear opinion regarding whether the veteran's current hypertension is secondary to his service-connected bipolar disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Left Shoulder Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- April 1, 2004
- Citation
- 0408513
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,599 · Granted: 37% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
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 0408513.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities are remanded. The claim for sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea) remains denied.
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