The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, cervical spine disorder, heart condition, digestive disorder, thyroid disorder (secondary to herbicide exposure), and erectile dysfunction is granted. Service connection for PTSD has an effective date of July 7, 2004. The right knee disability remains rated at 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's hypertension was presumed to be due to his service-connected disabilities, specifically the cervical spine disorder and heart condition. His thyroid disorder is also presumed to be due to herbicide exposure. Erectile dysfunction is not found to be secondary to any service-connected disability. The effective date for PTSD is set at July 7, 2004.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine disorder, hypertension, cervical spine disorder, heart condition, digestive disorder, thyroid disorder, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 2, 2012
- Citation
- 1208093
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 1208093.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
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