Diabetes decisions — 2013

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including coronary artery disease and degenerative arthritis of the spine, are found to affect his ability to engage in substantially gainful employment. The case is REMANDED for further development.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for various disabilities, including diabetes mellitus and related conditions, are denied as the evidence does not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.

The Veteran's claim for TDIU is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to assess his employability considering all of his service-connected disabilities, including PTSD and diabetes.

The Veteran's upper extremity peripheral neuropathy was granted increased ratings of 20 percent effective September 24, 2012. The conditions were rated under Diagnostic Code 8514 for mild incomplete paralysis.

The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus type II is presumed to have been caused by herbicide exposure in Korea. The Board finds that the Veteran's nephropathy and neuropathy are proximately caused or aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension is being remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding whether his condition is related to service, secondary to other conditions, or caused by medication.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, right shoulder disability, and hearing loss, render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The case is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA examinations and opinions regarding the Veteran's Bell's palsy, diabetes mellitus type II, and pancreatic pseudocysts.

The Board found that the Veteran's diabetes mellitus was not incurred in or aggravated by service, including claimed herbicide exposure. The claims for left-ear and right-ear hearing loss as well as tinnitus were denied as there is no evidence of a current disability.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete service records and a need for verification of the appellant's periods of active duty, inactive duty training, and reserve service. The claims will be reconsidered after obtaining any missing records.

The Veteran's appeal involves disagreement with the initial rating assigned following the grant of service connection for diabetes mellitus with non-proliferative retinopathy and erectile dysfunction. The RO has granted service connection but denied secondary service connection for erectile dysfunction.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, tinnitus, heart disease, PTSD, arthritis, right knee disorder, left knee disorder, and back disorder. The appeals were based on direct evidence of a link between each condition and service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran had sufficient service in and near the DMZ to presume exposure to herbicides, which allows for presumptive service connection for diabetes mellitus. Service connection is also granted for bilateral neuropathy of the lower extremities as secondary to his now service-connected diabetes.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy of the extremities, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation since March 9, 2007. The VA has determined that he is unemployable due to his service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to assess the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and their impact on his employability.

The Board found that hypertension was not incurred in service and is not related to the Veteran's diabetes mellitus or ischemic heart disease, thus denying his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's service-connected right ankle disorder, diabetes mellitus, and tinnitus have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The Board has granted service connection for impotence as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right lower extremity disabilities and medications, diabetes mellitus type II as secondary to his service-connected disabilities, and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy as secondary to diabetes. Service connection for bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy was not addressed in this decision.

The Veteran's diabetes and peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities have been rated as 20 percent disabling, but his upper extremity conditions are not entitled to increased ratings.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have diabetes mellitus, Type II. The issues of hypertension and radiculopathy/peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities are addressed in the REMAND portion of this decision.