Citation Nr: 21064860
Decision Date: 10/21/21	Archive Date: 10/21/21

DOCKET NO. 15-04 850
DATE: October 21, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension, to include as due to asbestos exposure, and/or as secondary to service-connected asbestosis with interstitial lung disease, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The appellant is the surviving spouse of a Veteran who served on active duty from March 1966 to December 1969.  

This matter originally comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2012 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 

The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal in March 2019.  In June 2020, the appellant was substituted to assume the Veteran's place and continue the appeal. The issue remaining on appeal has been before the Board in May 2018 and May 2021, when it was remanded for development.

The appellant seeks service connection for hypertension and asserts that such is either related to in-service asbestos exposure or is secondary to service-connected asbestosis with interstitial lung disease. 

A VA etiology opinion was obtained in August 2021.  The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's hypertension was less likely than not related to his military service, reasoning that there had been no objective evidence of hypertension in-service and that its onset was nearly 20 years after separation.  

Unfortunately, the examiner did not address whether the Veteran's hypertension was related to his conceded in-service asbestos exposure as requested by the Board's previous remand directives.  

Moreover, while the examiner opined that the hypertension was not caused or aggravated by the service-connected asbestosis with interstitial lung disease, the accompanying rationale only addressed causation.  

A remand is thus required to obtain a new opinion(s) and rationale. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Obtain an addendum opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's hypertension from an appropriate VA examiner.  The entire claims file must be made available and reviewed.  

The examiner is asked to address the following: 

(a) Whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran's hypertension was related to his in-service asbestos exposure? 

(b) Whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran's hypertension was aggravated by (chronically worsened beyond the natural progress of the disease) the service-connected asbestosis with interstitial lung disease? 

An explanation for all opinions expressed must be provided.

 

 

JONATHAN B. KRAMER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	H. Hoeft

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.