Citation Nr: 0810895 Decision Date: 04/02/08 Archive Date: 04/14/08 DOCKET NO. 03-13 705 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Petersburg, Florida THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for hypertension, secondary to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: The American Legion INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from April 1969 to March 1973. This case comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a December 2001 rating decision of the St. Petersburg, Florida, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The case was remanded by the Board in November 2004. In June 2005, the Board upheld the RO's denial of the veteran's claim. The veteran filed a timely appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In October 2007, the Court reversed and remanded for further action consistent with the Court's decision in this case. FINDING OF FACT Hypertension was not evident during service or until many years thereafter, but is shown to have been aggravated by PTSD. CONCLUSION OF LAW Hypertension was aggravated by the veteran's service connected PTSD. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 1137 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 3.310 (2007). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION Review of the duty to notify and assist is not warranted in this case, for reasons that will be made clear below. The veteran is claiming service connection for hypertension, specifically as being caused or aggravated by his service- connected PTSD. Review of the record shows that service medical records are not currently available and efforts to obtain them have not been successful. In any event, based on the veteran's own statements and the medical records, hypertension is first shown in medical records submitted in connection with the veteran's current claim many years after service. Thus, his hypertension is not shown to be manifested during service or within one year thereafter. The veteran's primary contention is that his hypertension is related to his service connected PTSD. Service connection for PTSD was established by rating decision dated in May 2000. The current evaluation is 70 percent disabling. In addition, service connection has been established for tinnitus, rated 10 percent disabling and bilateral hearing loss, evaluated as noncompensable. The veteran has been found to be totally disabled by reason of individual unemployability due to service connected disabilities. In support of his claim, the veteran has submitted statements from physicians. The first, dated in March 2003, is from a VA primary care physician who indicated that the veteran had a history of PTSD that was related to service and that he also had hypertension since, at least, September 2000. The doctor rendered an opinion that it was most likely that the chronic PTSD had contributed to his developing of hypertension. The second, dated in September 2004, is from a private physician who indicated that the veteran suffered from PTSD that had caused aggravation of his hypertension. The third, dated June 2005, also supports the veteran's claim. An examination was conducted by VA in January 2005. At that time, it was reported for clinical purposes that the veteran had been diagnosed as having hypertension in 1994 by a private physician. At that time, he was placed on medication and advised regarding bed rest and diet. His medical records included hypertensive blood pressure readings in February 2000. His history of PTSD began in June 1999. The doctor noted that an assessment of PTSD was made by VA examiners in August and September 1999. After examination, the impression was hypertension. The examiner rendered an opinion that the hypertension was not as likely as not caused by PTSD, as the hypertension was diagnosed years before the diagnosis of PTSD was made. Based on the above, the Court has found that the veteran's hypertension was aggravated by the veteran's service- connected PTSD (see Court decision at page 6). As a result, further discussion is not warranted. Service connection may be granted for disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). "When aggravation of a veteran's non-service-connected condition is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected condition, such veteran shall be compensated for the degree of disability (but only that degree) over and above the degree of disability existing prior to the aggravation." Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). Based on Allen and the Court decision, the RO should award the veteran compensation for the degree of disability (but only that degree) over and above the degree of disability existing prior to the aggravation by PTSD. As the veteran is already receiving individual unemployability due to his service connected disabilities, further discussion of this case is not warranted. ORDER Service connection for hypertension on a secondary basis is granted. ____________________________________________ JOHN J. CROWLEY Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs