The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, hypertension, and congestive heart failure are all granted as service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability is related to his military service, while his hypertension is secondary to his service-connected psychiatric disability. However, there was insufficient evidence to establish a direct link between the Veteran's congestive heart failure and his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD) is directly linked to his military service based on credible lay statements and medical opinions. The hypertension is found to be secondary to his service-connected psychiatric disability, as supported by VA treatment records and a private opinion. For congestive heart failure, there was insufficient evidence to establish a direct link with the Veteran's military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD and other stress-related disorder), Hypertension, Congestive heart failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- A19003483
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,913 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19003483.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- 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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