Citation Nr: 21021334 Decision Date: 04/12/21 Archive Date: 04/12/21 DOCKET NO. 19-34 549 DATE: April 12, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for hypertension (HTN) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in at least relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s HTN is due to the Veteran’s exposure to herbicide agents during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for HTN have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1968 to January 1970. This appeal to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) arose from an August 2018 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). See January 2019 Notice of Disagreement (NOD); November 2019 Statement of the Case (SOC); November 2019 Substantive Appeal (VA Form 9). In February 2020, the Board remanded the claim for further development of the evidence, including obtaining a new VA examination. February 2020 Board decision. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) developed the evidence and continued the denial of the Veteran’s claim. December 2020 Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC). The case is now back before the Board. This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.800(c). 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2). Entitlement to service connection for HTN. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection is established when there is competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a), (d). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). The Board does not dispute that HTN is a current disability. See September 2020 VA examination for HTN. The evidence also supports that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during service. A veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307 (a)(6)(iii). In this case, the Veteran’s service personnel records show that he was in the Republic of Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. See Veteran’s Record of Assignments; January 1970 DD Form 214. The Veteran is, thus, presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents during service. The Board recognizes that HTN is not one of the diseases entitled to presumptive service connection, which are listed at 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). However, the Board must still determine if the Veteran’s HTN is due to his herbicide agent exposure on a direct service connection basis. See Combee v. Brown, 34 F.3d 1039, 1043-1044 (Fed. Cir. 1994). The September 2020 VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s HTN is less likely than not incurred in or due to service, including from herbicide agent exposure. September 2020 VA examination for HTN. The examiner based on his opinion on the lack of documented evidence of HTN during service and that herbicide agent exposure is not related to HTN development. Id. However, the VA examiner later submitted an addendum opinion noting that more recent research has shown sufficient evidence now exists to conclude an association between HTN and herbicide agent exposure. See November 2020 VA examination addendum. Based on this evidence, the examiner opined that HTN would be considered a condition caused by herbicide agent exposure. See id. The VA examiner is a medical professional qualified to opine on the cause of the Veteran’s HTN and provided detailed rationale for his opinion. The Board finds the VA examiner’s opinion to be probative and that it supports finding the Veteran’s HTN was caused by his in service exposure to herbicide agents. The Board notes that the only other medical opinion of record about the cause of the Veteran’s HTN is from the June 2018 VA examiner, which only considered whether the Veteran’s HTN is secondary to his service connected diabetes mellitus or ischemic heart disease. The Board, thus, finds that the evidence is in at least relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s current HTN disability was incurred in or otherwise due to service, to including his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. Accordingly, the Board find that entitlement to service connection for HTN is warranted. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Lin 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.