The Veteran's service connection claim for hypertension is granted as it manifested within one year of separation and is not attributable to intercurrent causes. The claim for sleep apnea is remanded due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established for hypertension based on the presumption of service connection for chronic diseases that manifest within a year of separation from active duty. Sleep apnea requires additional evidence as the VA examiner did not provide an opinion and there are lay statements supporting its in-service onset.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19127545
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (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 19127545.
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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- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
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