Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction, as secondary to service-connected hypertension, is remanded.

Citation Nr: A26069951 Decision Date: 07/30/26 Archive Date: 07/30/26 DOCKET NO. 200311-74833 DATE: July 30, 2026 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction, as secondary to service-connected hypertension, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from April 1971 to March 1974 and from June 1974 to April 1980. The rating decision on appeal was issued in April 2020 and constitutes an initial decision; therefore, the modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), applies. In the March 11, 2020 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Evidence Submission docket. Therefore, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the April 2020 agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) decision on appeal, as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or his representative with, or within 90 days from receipt of, the VA Form 10182. 38 C.F.R. § 20.303. If evidence was submitted either (1) during the period after the AOJ issued the decision on appeal and prior to the date the Board received the VA Form 10182, or (2) more than 90 days following the date the Board received the VA Form 10182, the Board did not consider it in its decision. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.303, 20.801. This appeal was previously before the Board in October 2023 and February 2025, at which times the claim was denied. The Veteran appealed the October 2023 and February 2025 decisions to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Most recently, in a January 2026 Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), the parties agreed that the Board erred in its February 2025 decision because the Board did not address the Veteran's argument that the Board failed to remand for the AOJ to obtain private treatment records relating to hypertension which were noted in the VA treatment records. Furthermore, the Board erred in not conducting an analysis of whether the Veteran has a current erectile dysfunction disability pursuant to Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F.3d 1356, 1363-65 (Fed. Cir. 2018). Prior to the rating decision on appeal, VA treatment records associated with the claims file reflect that the Veteran receives routine hypertension monitoring and blood pressure management from a private cardiologist. These records were reasonably identified during the pendency of the claim and may contain information relevant to the claim. A remand is required to allow VA to obtain these records. This is pre-decisional error. The Board further finds that a VA examination and medical opinion are warranted. The Veteran is competent to report observable symptoms of erectile dysfunction, including difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection, as such symptoms are capable of lay observation. Although the record does not contain a formal diagnosis of erectile dysfunction during the pendency of the claim, the Veteran's lay reports, together with the documentation of erectile complaints from prior to the claim, and the contention that the condition is secondary to service-connected hypertension, satisfy the low threshold for obtaining a VA examination and medical opinion. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83 (2006). Accordingly, on remand, the Veteran should be afforded a VA examination to determine whether he has a current erectile disability proximate to the appeal, including whether any of the symptoms constitute a disability for VA purposes, and if so, whether such disability is at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension, to include any medication prescribed to treat the disability. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify and authorize VA to obtain any relevant outstanding private treatment records, to include records from the private cardiologist referenced in VA treatment records. 2. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any erectile disability. (a.) Provide a diagnosis for any erectile disability found on current examination or in the record. (b.) For any diagnosed erectile disability, provide an opinion whether the erectile disability is at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension, to include medications used to treat hypertension. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board St. Laurent, A. 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.