Diabetes decisions — 2024

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for Parkinson's disease and diabetes mellitus, type II due to a lack of a VA examination and etiological opinion regarding his claimed exposures during service. The Veteran must be scheduled for a VA examination to determine if his conditions are related to his military service.

The Veteran's claims for bilateral eye disability, bilateral hearing loss, type II diabetes mellitus (insulin dependence), bilateral kidney condition, erectile dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, and acquired psychiatric disability were all denied as there is no persuasive evidence of a current disability during or shortly before the pendency of the claim.,The Veteran's claims for service connection are based on his exposure to hazardous noise in military service. However, the VA examiner found that the Veteran does not have a current hearing loss disability and noted that there was no significant shift in hearing thresholds beyond test variability from the Veteran's entrance to separation.

The Board has decided to remand the cases for further investigation and review due to errors in verifying the Veteran's alleged exposure to herbicide agents in Korea. The issues of service connection for B cell lymphoma, heart disorder, and diabetes mellitus type II are now pending.

The Veteran's service connection claims for migraine headaches, obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, congestive heart failure, type II diabetes mellitus, cervical spine disability, and lumbar spine disability have all been denied.,Service connection was not granted as the evidence did not establish a direct or secondary relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's service.

The Veteran's diabetes requires regulation of activities but no restriction of diet, and thus does not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 20 percent.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to November 20, 2019, for service connection of diabetes mellitus type II and also denied his request for a higher initial rating. The decision was based on the fact that no formal or informal claims were filed before November 20, 2019, and there was no evidence showing an earlier claim for diabetes.

The Board denied service connection for erectile dysfunction due to the absence of a diagnosed disability during the appeal period.,The Board remanded the claims for diabetic peripheral neuropathy, as there was conflicting evidence regarding whether the Veteran had this condition.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 70 percent effective October 9, 2020. Ratings for his right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are denied.

The Veteran's service connection for chronic kidney disease secondary to diabetes mellitus type II was granted with an effective date of February 15, 2017. The initial rating assigned is 20 percent.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's Obstructive Sleep Apnea is secondary to his service-connected Coronary Artery Disease and Diabetes Mellitus Type II. The examiner needs to address whether obesity, which may be related to the service-connected conditions, was a substantial factor in causing the OSA.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 30 percent, and service connection for left and right diabetic peripheral neuropathy are both denied.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error and requires additional medical opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's OSA, PTSD, and DM II.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of October 28, 2019 for the award of service connection for chronic renal disease (claimed as chronic kidney disease) is granted. The Board found that this date was when entitlement to service connection arose due to evidence showing a relationship between the Veteran's diabetes and his chronic renal disease.

The Board has remanded the claims for diabetes mellitus, arthritis both hands, GERD, erectile dysfunction, gout, liver disability to include steatohepatitis (NASH), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and hypertension due to a lack of response from VA medical records.

The Veteran's claims for bladder cancer, diabetes mellitus II, atrial fibrillation (claimed as ischemic heart disease), bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus have been denied. The Board found no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and thus could not grant presumptive service connection based on Agent Orange exposure. The Veteran did not provide credible evidence to support his claims for direct-service incurrence or continuity of symptomatology.

The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, Type II is granted as presumptively linked to his service aboard the U.S.S. Hull in the territorial waters of the Republic of Vietnam.

The Veteran's claim for total disability based on individual unemployability prior to November 27, 2017 is denied. The claim for special monthly compensation based on statutory housebound status prior to November 27, 2017 is also denied.

The Board has dismissed the claims for service connection for diabetes, heart impairment, and hearing loss. The psychiatric impairment and skin impairment claims have been remanded due to new evidence submitted.

The Board has restored service connection for Type 1 diabetes mellitus, finding that the initial grant of service connection was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a failure to provide proper notice of his right to a pre-decisional hearing before the AOJ.