The Veteran's hypertension was not manifested during service and is not related to service.,The Veteran’s current disability rating of 10 percent for tinnitus is the highest schedular disability rating for tinnitus.
The deciding factor: Service connection requires an evidentiary showing of three essential elements: a current disability, in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury, and a causal relationship between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. The Veteran's hypertension does not meet these criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Tinnitus, Actinic Keratosis, Status Post Excision Malignant Melanoma, Right Temple, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) with Barrett’s Esophagus, Mood Disorder Secondary to Medical Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 15, 2018
- Citation
- 18150759
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 18150759.
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
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The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but remanded the claim for degenerative disc disease with degenerative arthritis.
- 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.
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