The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed conditions are not shown to have been present in service or for many years thereafter, and thus denied his claims for service connection.
The deciding factor: Service records were destroyed, making it impossible to determine if any of the claimed conditions were present during active duty. The medical evidence does not support a finding that these conditions began during service or are otherwise related to military service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral defective hearing, acquired psychiatric disorder (depression and anxiety with panic attacks and sleep loss), hepatitis (including hepatitis A), residuals of cold injury (frostbite, swollen legs and feet, swollen hands and fingers), malaria, disorder characterized by grand mal seizures, rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis, Type II diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 7, 2004
- Citation
- 0409023
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 332 · Granted: 14% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0409023.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient detail in a previous VA medical opinion regarding whether malaria or scarlet fever during service contributed to the Veteran's death. The case must be returned for further evaluation.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's peripheral vascular disease is being remanded due to a duty to assist error, and an addendum opinion is needed to determine if the condition is related to service or his service-connected CAD.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II (DM) and coronary artery disease (CAD), finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his active duty at Fort McClellan. The Board also found support for secondary service connection for diabetic neuropathy of various extremities, peripheral vascular disease, and gastroparesis as secondary to DM.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Type II diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy, finding that these conditions are related to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
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