The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for low testosterone as secondary to hypertension and denied his increased rating claims for lower extremity radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s hypogonadism was less likely than not due to or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension, and there was no evidence of aggravation. The Board gave more weight to this opinion as it is outside the competence of the Veteran in making such a determination.
- Claimed conditions
- Low testosterone, diagnosed as hypogonadism
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20067415
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, as the evidence did not support a current disability. The claims for left knee condition, back pain, migraines, right knee condition, GERD, and low testosterone were remanded due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, bilateral lower extremity diabetic neuropathy, hypertension, and low testosterone due to exposure to various chemical or biological agents, including herbicides.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, left lower extremity neuropathy, right lower extremity neuropathy, adrenal gland removal, and low testosterone as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to active-duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The Board found that low testosterone is not a compensable disability, the anxiety disorder does not meet criteria for a higher rating, the back disability did not warrant an increase to 100%, headaches do not meet criteria for a higher rating, bilateral hearing loss was rated appropriately, and hypertension did not warrant an increase.
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