Citation Nr: 18140055
Decision Date: 10/02/18	Archive Date: 10/02/18

DOCKET NO. 13-22 306
DATE:	October 2, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for hypertension, as secondary to service-connected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is granted.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from July 1962 to June 1967.
2. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of hypertension, and is currently service-connected for OSA.
3. The October 2017 VA examiner’s unfavorable nexus opinion addressing the potential relationship between OSA and hypertension on a proximate cause basis is inadequate, relying on a temporal requirement not contemplated in the relevant regulation, and a December 2011 opinion from the Veteran’s VA treating physician and medical literature cited by the October 2017 VA examiner collectively support this theory of entitlement.  
 
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to secondary service connection for hypertension are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310(a).
 
S. BUSH
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Victoria L. Stephens, Associate Counsel