The Veteran's tinnitus, hypertension, and aggravation of sleep apnea by service-connected PTSD have been granted. The effective date for the award of service connection for coronary artery disease with myocardial infarction residuals and stenting is being determined in accordance with general regulations.,Service connection for coronary artery disease was established secondary to diabetes mellitus rather than on a presumptive basis, prior to its addition to the list of covered herbicide diseases.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service records show exposure to noise during service and he reported tinnitus since then. The VA examiner concluded that hypertension is due to diabetes mellitus. The VA physician’s assistant opined that sleep apnea was not caused by PTSD, but a nurse practitioner found it likely related to PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, hypertension, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19127470
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (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 19127470.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service connected. The issues of foot disability and cardiovascular disorder are remanded for additional development.
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