The Veteran's psychiatric disorder, diagnosed as unspecified depressive disorder, was granted service connection. Service connection for hypertension and residuals of a cerebral vascular accident were also granted, with the latter being secondary to service-connected hypertension.
The deciding factor: Service connection established based on exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, bilateral hand disability, sleep disability, psychiatric disorder (unspecified depressive disorder), hypertension, residuals of a cerebral vascular accident, headache (tension headaches)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- August 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19164994
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,185 · Granted: 28% (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 19164994.
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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