The Veteran's arthritis of the upper and lower extremities is not service-connected.,Osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees has been found to be related to service. The Veteran will receive a separate rating for this condition.,Service connection for hypertension, secondary to PTSD and herbicide exposure, is being remanded for further development.,The Veteran's skin rash disability is presumed to be related to herbicide exposure during service. Service connection for this condition is also being remanded.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence of arthritis in the upper and lower extremities or knees during service, and none have been diagnosed post-service.,The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees has been linked to his active duty service. The Board affirms the grant of service connection for this condition.,Service connection cannot be granted as there is no evidence that hypertension is related to service or secondary to PTSD, and VA will need to obtain additional medical records to determine if it is related to herbicide exposure.,The Veteran's skin rash disability has been presumed to be due to herbicide exposure during service. Service connection for this condition is being remanded as VA needs to review the private treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the upper and lower extremities, Hypertension, Osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees, Skin rash disability (presumed to be related to herbicide exposure)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19138653
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 19138653.
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 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.
- 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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