Citation Nr: 21010021
Decision Date: 02/23/21	Archive Date: 02/23/21

DOCKET NO. 15-23 217
DATE:    February 23, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s hypertension began during active service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Resolving all doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for service connection for hypertension are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from October 1976 to October 2002.

In a July 2018 decision, the Board denied the Veteran’s service-connection claim for hypertension.  The Veteran appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (the Court).  On appeal, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), and returned the matter to the Board because it erred in relying on an inadequate medical examination in its prior July 2018 decision.  The Board remanded the Veteran’s appeal for further development in an April 2020 decision.  Such development has been completed, and the issue is once again before the Board for adjudication. 

The Board adds that it also remanded the Veteran’s service-connection claim for coronary artery disease in April 2020, and the AOJ subsequently granted that claim in an October 2020 rating decision.  As such, that issue is no longer in appellate status.

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is granted.

There is no dispute that the Veteran has a current hypertension disability.  He was formally diagnosed with hypertension in 2004, and placed on medication.  The Veteran contends that his hypertension had onset prior to his discharge in October 2002. 

In April 2020, the Board remanded the appeal so that an opinion could be obtained addressing the etiology of the Veteran’s hypertension based on a complete review of the Veteran’s medical history, to include in-service and post-service blood pressure readings.

An October 2020 examiner opined against a relationship between the Veteran’s hypertension and service, acknowledging that the Veteran’s service treatment records showed a blood pressure reading of 142/64, but also reasoning that “one blood pressure reading is not sufficient enough to establish a diagnosis of hypertension.”

Following this examination, the Veteran obtained a positive medical nexus opinion from his private physician, Dr. V.C., who pertinently served as an Active Duty Clinic commander of troops for 20 years in the Army and reviewed disability claims for the US Army reserves for 6 years. Dr. V.C. reviewed the Veteran’s records and identified more than one elevated blood pressure reading while the Veteran was in service.  Dr. V.C. also considered medical literature from the National Institutes of Health on cardiovascular disabilities, the fact that the Veteran had coronary artery disease that was also service-connected, as well as the presence of an October 2002 left ventricular hypertension diagnosis.  Based on his observation of multiple elevated in-service blood pressure readings, the fact that the Veteran had comorbid cardiovascular disabilities, and medical research, Dr. V.C. concluded that the Veteran’s hypertension was service-related. 

Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence to at least be in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s current hypertension arose in service. Accordingly, after resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection for hypertension is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102.

 

 

V. Chiappetta

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Hennessy, 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.