The Board denied the claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of its onset during qualifying military service or aggravation by a service-connected condition. The Board also found that the appellant's lay statements were not competent to establish an etiological relationship between his current hypertension and his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the criteria for direct service connection had not been met, as there was no evidence of onset or aggravation during qualifying active duty service. The appellant’s lay statements regarding causation or aggravation were deemed insufficient due to their lack of medical knowledge necessary to establish such a relationship.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19127012
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19127012.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Whole decision: 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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