The Board has reopened the Veteran's previously denied claims for service connection for hypertension and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The case is remanded to obtain additional medical records, including VA treatment records from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, and Chippewa Falls, as well as a Dr. Samuelson's 1979 record. A VA examiner will provide opinions on the likelihood of service connection for hypertension based on exposure to herbicides, whether it is related to service, and if it was caused or aggravated by his service-connected psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The Board has reopened the claims due to new evidence submitted since the last final denial. The case is remanded as VA records are needed to support the reopening of these claims and to determine the relationship between the Veteran's hypertension and service, including exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19119430
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 19119430.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
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