Citation Nr: 20009735
Decision Date: 02/06/20	Archive Date: 02/05/20

DOCKET NO. 13-34 500
DATE:  February 6, 2020

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran’s hypertension is etiologically related to his exposure to herbicides during service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for hypertension have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303 (2019).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active military service from December 1965 to October 1967, including service in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2012 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

The Veteran has contended that his hypertension is related to his active service, to include in-service exposure to herbicides; or, alternatively, is secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II (DM). 

As an initial matter, the Veteran’s current diagnosis of hypertension and in-service exposure to herbicides has been conceded. 

Although there is evidence against the claim insofar as the January 2012, September 2016, and October 2019 VA examiners opined that the Veteran’s hypertension was not related to service, herbicide exposure, or service-connected DM, the Board finds that evidence is, at the very least, in relative equipoise. In this regard, the Board notes that although hypertension is not listed as a disease associated with herbicide exposure under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e), a recent determination from the National Academy of Sciences upgraded hypertension from “limited or suggestive” to the “sufficient” category, indicating that “there is enough epidemiologic evidence to conclude that there is a positive association.” 

In sum, the Veteran was presumptively exposed to herbicides and he has a current diagnosis of hypertension. Further, there is competent evidence to conclude that there is a positive association between hypertension and herbicide exposure. 

Therefore, reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of the Veteran and entitlement to service connection for hypertension is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2012); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990).

 

 

Kristin Haddock

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	D. Ware, Associate Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.