The Veteran's hypertension is granted service connection, and he receives a 10% disability rating for his bilateral hearing loss from December 7, 2011 onwards. However, the prior period of hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.
The deciding factor: Service records show the Veteran was held over in service due to high blood pressure and he has provided credible testimony supporting this claim. The Board resolved doubt in favor of the Veteran's assertion of hypertension onset during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Bilateral Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20081116
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 20081116.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- 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.
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