Citation Nr: 21015464
Decision Date: 03/17/21	Archive Date: 03/17/21

DOCKET NO. 19-28 920
DATE: March 17, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension (HTN) is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, HTN is related to in-service herbicide exposure.  

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for HTN are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 11137, 1154, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 3.307, 3.309 (2020).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1968 to February 1971, to include service in the Republic of Vietnam.  

In March 2021, the Veteran testified in support of his claim at a teleconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  

Service Connection for HTN.  

The Veteran has been diagnosed with HTN.  See, e.g., private report dated in February 2010 which noted a history of HTN.  Also, see more recent VA records in 2018 which note HTN as a disability on the Veteran’s problem list.  

The Veteran served in Vietnam, and therefore, in-service exposure is presumed.  See 38 U.S.C. § 1116(f) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii) (2020); DD 214.  The Board notes that while HTN is not recognized as a presumptive condition due to herbicide exposure, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has found in a recent study released on November 15, 2018, that “[t]he latest in a series of congressionally mandated biennial reviews of the evidence of health problems that may be linked to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used during the Vietnam War found sufficient evidence of an association for hypertension.”  NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, Hypertension Upgraded in Latest Biennial Review of Research on Health Problems in Veteran That May Be Linked to Agent Orange Exposure During Vietnam War (Nov. 15, 2018), available at: http://www.8nationalcadaemies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=25137. 

Of record is a May 2018 VA examination report which includes a negative opinion, but the Board affords that opinion little probative value in that the examiner’s opinion was provided prior to the NAS update and the same was not considered.  In sum, the medical evidence of record confirms that the Veteran has been diagnosed with and is currently being treated for HTN.  HTN is not listed in the applicable regulations as presumptively associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents.  Thus, presumptive service connection is not warranted for this disability.  However, based on the November 2018 NAS report concluding a positive association between HTN and exposure to herbicide agents, the Board cannot conclusively disassociate the Veteran’s hypertension from the conceded in-service herbicide exposure.  

As such, the Board will resolve reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor and, therefore, service connection for HTN is granted.  

 

 

E. I. VELEZ

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	T. Hal Smith, 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.