The Board denied service connection for hypertension, a cardiac disorder (including ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation), a respiratory condition (dyspnea), and bilateral-eye disorders (diabetic retinopathy, partial blindness, glaucoma, cataracts) due to diabetes. The Board also denied service connection for peripheral vascular disease of the right-lower extremity.,The Board found that there was no evidence linking hypertension or a cardiac disorder to service or service-connected conditions and thus denied these claims.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient medical evidence to establish a direct relationship between the Veteran's diagnosed conditions (hypertension, ischemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, respiratory condition, bilateral-eye disorders, and peripheral vascular disease) and his military service or any service-connected disabilities. The Board found that there was no connection between hypertension and diabetes, nor did it find evidence of a direct relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Ischemic heart disease (including atrial fibrillation), Respiratory condition (dyspnea), Bilateral-eye disorder (diabetic retinopathy, partial blindness, glaucoma, cataracts), Peripheral vascular disease of the right-lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19181970
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 19181970.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- 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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