The Veteran's claim for hypertension was granted with an effective date of January 5, 2022.,Claims for bilateral hearing loss and midsternal chest scar were denied as the earliest possible effective dates are January 5, 2022.,Claim for left lower extremity scar was also denied as the earliest possible effective dates are January 5, 2022.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's Intent to File and subsequent claims were received within one year of each other, allowing VA to recognize the Intent to File as the date of claim. The PACT Act did not allow for an earlier effective date for hypertension due to its liberalizing nature.,There is no evidence of any unadjudicated formal or informal claims for bilateral hearing loss and midsternal chest scar prior to January 5, 2022. Therefore, the earliest possible effective dates are January 5, 2022.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, midsternal chest scar, status post coronary artery bypass surgery, left lower extremity scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2026
- Citation
- A26020151
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 A26020151.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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