The Veteran's heart disease, sleep apnea, skin diseases, gastrointestinal disease, and nerve damage are all found to be related to his service-connected PTSD and/or hypertension. The Veteran is granted service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: A private opinion concluded that the Veteran's heart disorder was secondary to his service-connected PTSD and/or hypertension.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, heart disease (including congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cardiomyopathy with left ventricular dilatation, and atrial dilatation), sleep apnea, skin diseases (various diagnoses including basal cell carcinoma, actinic keratosis, invasive squamous cell carcinoma, seborrheic keratosis, hemangioma, xerosis cutis, tinea pedis, and herpes simplex I/genital warts), gastrointestinal disease (esophagitis, hiatal hernia, duodenal ulcers), nerve damage, hypertension
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- February 13, 2018
- Citation
- 1808931
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 1808931.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
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