Citation Nr: 20028842
Decision Date: 04/24/20	Archive Date: 04/24/20

DOCKET NO. 20-10 470
DATE: April 24, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from April 1995 to April 1999, and from February 2003 to May 2004, to include service in Southwest Asia.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in May 2018 by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is remanded.

The Veteran contends that her hypertension is either directly related to her military service (as a result of particulate exposure while serving in Iraq), or as secondary to her service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.  In support of these contentions, the Veteran’s attorney submitted a brief with citations to research in support of these arguments in March 2020.

However, the Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of the Veteran’s hypertension because no VA examiner has opined whether a relationship exists between the Veteran’s hypertension and her military service or service connected disabilities. Thus, a remand is warranted.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate examiner to determine the nature and etiology of her claimed hypertension. After examining the Veteran, the examiner is to answer the following questions: 

a. What is the earliest date possible at which it can be determined that the Veteran met the criteria for a hypertension diagnosis?

b. Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s hypertension is related to her active service, to include exposure to particulate matter in Southwest Asia?

c. Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s hypertension is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by any of her service-connected disorders, to include adjustment disorder? 

 

 

Evan M. Deichert

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. K. Hall, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.