The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension and kidney disorder as secondary to hypertension due to herbicide agent exposure. The case is being returned for a VA examination and opinion, given new information from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS) Update 11 (2018).
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was insufficient evidence to determine if hypertension was related to service or herbicide exposure, but the NAS Update 11 (2018) upgraded the likelihood of an association between hypertension and herbicide exposure from 'limited or suggestive' to 'sufficient'. The VA examiner must consider this update in their opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, kidney disorder
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 29, 2022
- Citation
- 22037341
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 22037341.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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 Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension and increased rating for anxiety disorder have been denied. The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability meeting the criteria for hypertension, and the Veteran's anxiety disorder does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
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