The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for essential hypertension. The Veteran's current diagnosis of hypertension is found to have manifested during his first period of active duty service, and thus service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the Veteran's current diagnosis of hypertension began in and has been continuous since service due to credible lay evidence and medical opinion supporting a link between service and the onset of symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Essential Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 14, 2018
- Citation
- 18135037
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 18135037.
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 Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for essential hypertension, finding that his systolic pressure was consistently under 160 and diastolic pressure was most commonly under 100 during the review period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for hypertension disability to include high blood pressure, hypertension, or essential hypertension due to insufficient evidence on whether it is related to service. The Veteran's representative argued that his current diagnosis of essential hypertension and a history of elevated BP readings during service may support service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death and entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation under 38 USC § 1151 due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including osteoarthrosis and essential hypertension, rendered him unable to work as of August 10, 2018. The Board granted a total disability evaluation based on individual unemployability (TDIU) effective December 21, 2018.
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