Citation Nr: 21030317
Decision Date: 05/18/21	Archive Date: 05/18/21

DOCKET NO. 17-07 111
DATE: May 18, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's service connected disabilities is granted. 

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran's hypertension is as likely as not aggravated by his service-connected disabilities.  

CONCLUSION OF LAW

With resolution of reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the criteria for entitlement to service connection for hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's service connected disabilities have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310 (2020).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from July 1975 to July 1996.

In April 2019, the Board denied, in pertinent part, entitlement to service connection for hypertension. The Veteran appealed the April 2019 Board decision for this issue to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (the Court).  Counsel for the appellant and the Secretary of VA (the parties) filed a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR).  An Order of the Court in July 2020 granted the motion and remanded this issue to the Board.  In February 2021, the Board remanded the issue for an addendum opinion.  The case has been returned to the Board for appellate review.

Service connection may be established on a secondary basis for a disability that is proximately due to, or the result of, a service-connected disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a). Secondary service connection may be established for a disorder that is caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (b); Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 447-48 (1995). To establish secondary service connection, the record must show: (1) evidence of a current disability; (2) evidence of a service-connected disability; and (3) a connection between the service-connected disability and the current disability. See Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509, 511 (1998).

The record establishes that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of hypertension. He is also in receipt of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine with IVDS and bilateral lower extremity lumbar radiculopathy with IVDS, right elbow pronation and supination, right knee strain, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity associated with the sciatic nerve and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity associated with the sciatic nerve. Therefore, the first and second elements of service connection on a secondary basis are met.

Regarding the third element of secondary service connection, the Veteran was afforded a VA medical opinion in February 2021. The VA medical examiner determined that the Veteran's pain related to his degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine with IVDS and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy with IVDS, right elbow pronation and supination, right knee strain, radiculopathy of sciatic nerve to bilateral lower extremities would increase his blood pressure.  Although, the VA examiner concluded that there was a temporary increase in blood pressure due to his service-connected disabilities a negative nexus opinion was provided. As the examiner asserted that a temporary increase did not constitute an aggravation and permanent worsening needed to be shown. 

However, the Court has held that aggravation is any incremental increase in disability of a non-service-connected condition proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury and not due to the natural progress of the non-service-connected condition and does not require a "permanent" worsening of the nonservice-connected disability. See Ward v. Wilkie, 31 Vet. App. 233 (2019). Thus, the February 2021 opinion supports a finding that there was an incremental increase in his hypertension due to his service-connected disabilities, thereby supports a finding that his hypertension was aggravated by his service-connected disabilities. The Board affords the medical opinion substantial probative weight.  In light of the foregoing, the Board finds that the Veteran's hypertension was aggravated by his service-connected disabilities and service connection for hypertension is warranted on a secondary theory of entitlement.

 

 

T. Blake Carter

Acting Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Smith, 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.