The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient rationale provided in a previous VA opinion regarding his hypertension.
The deciding factor: The September 2017 VA physician’s opinion that the Veteran's hypertension is not related to herbicide exposure in service is insufficient because it relies solely on the fact that hypertension is not recognized as being caused by Agent Orange exposure, and does not consider other potential causes or associations with hypertension.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Gastrointestinal disability other than hiatal hernia with esophageal reflux (including colon polyps), Urinary disability (including stress incontinence), Kidney disability (including cyst in kidney and kidney disease), Cardiac disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18143496
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 18143496.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, type II, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, asthma/lung disease, vision disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, leukocytosis, kidney disease/kidney stones, enlarged prostate, sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar spine disability, right ankle disability, and left ankle disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and a right shoulder disorder as there was no probative evidence of current disabilities as defined by VA.
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