The Board denied an initial compensable disability rating for hypertension and remanded the claims for service connection for emphysema and an esophageal condition due to a pre-decisional error in not providing required examinations under the PACT Act.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's hypertension did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating, while the claims for service connection were remanded due to a failure to provide required examinations under the PACT Act.
- Claimed conditions
- Emphysema, Esophageal condition to include gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) and diverticulum of the esophagus, Hypertension (HTN)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 30, 2025
- Citation
- A25056442
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 709 · 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 A25056442.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension, as it is related to his service-connected major depressive disorder. The VA examiner's opinion was inadequate and less probative due to its failure to provide a direct service connection opinion or an aggravation opinion regarding the Veteran's hypertension.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU with a September 19, 2024 effective date based on his PTSD, emphysema, and COPD symptoms. His diabetes, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss were not found to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 19, 2024.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected hypertension and somatic symptom disorder are denied. The Board has remanded the claims for cardiovascular, peripheral artery disease, and lung cancer with emphysema.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's COPD is etiologically related to service exposure to herbicide agents, and thus grants service connection for COPD.
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