The Veteran's hypertension is not service connected. The Board finds that the preponderance of evidence fails to establish a connection between his current hypertension and his military service, secondary to any service-connected disability, or due to herbicide exposure in Vietnam. For PTSD, the Veteran has been rated at 70 percent since June 2012 based on symptoms including reliving experiences, insomnia, mistrust, hypervigilance, avoidance, numbness, and feelings of alienation.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's hypertension is related to his military service or any other factor. The VA examiners found no direct link between the Veteran's current hypertension and his PTSD or diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- September 23, 2016
- Citation
- 1637552
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 1637552.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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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