The Board granted service connection for retinopathy as secondary to hypertension, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor. The issue of a right eye condition other than retinopathy was remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence is approximately balanced as to whether the Veteran's retinopathy is due to his service-connected hypertension; however, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for hypertensive retinopathy is warranted. The Board also found that a remand was necessary to address whether the Veteran's choroidal nevus could be a congenital disease or defect.
- Claimed conditions
- retinopathy, right eye disability other than retinopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- May 22, 2025
- Citation
- 25006991
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 915 · Granted: 38% (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 25006991.
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 claims for service connection were reopened and granted, with an effective date of January 11, 2008.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further adjudication of the appellant's claims for accrued benefits due to her testimony regarding good cause. The Veteran had pending service connection claims at the time of his death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye condition, including cataracts, retinopathy, and dry eye syndrome, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between her current conditions and her military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for eye disabilities, to include retinopathy, bilateral nuclear cataracts, bilateral dermatochalasis, dry eye, and pinguecula, as the prior VA medical opinion regarding aggravation was found to be conclusory and lacked necessary medical reasoning.
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