The Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and the evidence does not support a finding that his hypertension or cardiovascular-renal disease (including hypertension) began in service.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion found no evidence of hypertension or rheumatic fever in service records, and the appellant’s statements were deemed unreliable due to lack of supporting medical documentation.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, bilateral high frequency sensorineural hearing loss, pilonidal cyst scar, cardiovascular-renal disease (including hypertension), coronary artery disease (CAD) status-post chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes mellitus, type II, history of colon cancer
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19142735
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 19142735.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran experienced tinnitus during his active duty service.
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