The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining private medical records and providing a medical opinion regarding the aggravation of essential hypertension and pulmonary hypertension by service-connected cardiac arrhythmia.
The deciding factor: The Federal Circuit held that the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(b) were unlawful as they were inconsistent with 38 U.S.C. § 1110, which provides for compensation for a worsening of functionality - whether through an inability to treat or a more direct, etiological cause.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, essential hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2024
- Citation
- 24031787
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,680 · Granted: 24% (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 24031787.
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.
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- 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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