The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of diabetes associated with herbicide exposure was denied as the law does not allow for such a grant based on the evidence presented.
The deciding factor: The effective date is governed by the liberalizing change to 3.309(e) which established presumptive service connection for Type II diabetes due to Agent Orange exposure, and its effective date of May 8, 2001 controls over any earlier manifestation of the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- April 21, 2004
- Citation
- 0410332
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0410332.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus and bilateral knee strain to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes mellitus; granted service connection for erectile dysfunction and skin cancer; and restored the 10 percent rating for hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus and sleep apnea to obtain a TERA opinion due to the Veteran's participation in a toxic exposure risk activity during his service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
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