The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current Type I or Type II diabetes mellitus, as well as the severity of the veteran's service-connected right shoulder disability. The issues include determining whether the veteran's diabetes is related to his period of active duty service from May 1967 to March 1970, including as due to presumed herbicide exposure, and whether he should receive a higher rating for his service-connected right shoulder condition.
The deciding factor: The case was remanded because the October 2002 VA diabetes examination is insufficient to allow the claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus, but does trigger VA's duty to obtain a more thorough and comprehensive medical examination and opinion with regard to the claim. The veteran's right shoulder disability also needs further evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, gunshot wound to the right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 13, 2006
- Citation
- 0634994
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 0634994.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Veteran's Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular Aid and Attendance is granted as of April 25, 2024.,For diabetes mellitus, a rating in excess of 20 percent is denied.
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