The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disorder as secondary to his service-connected type II diabetes mellitus, and also denied an increased initial evaluation for type II diabetes mellitus.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions were more probative than the private physician statements, indicating that the veteran's shoulders are well-healed after surgeries and that degenerative arthritis is not caused or aggravated by his diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral shoulder disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0901934
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 952 · Granted: 17% (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 0901934.
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: Partly granted
The appeal was denied for service connection of a cervical spine disorder, and several claims were remanded for further development.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further evidentiary development and to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board dismissed all claims for higher initial ratings and service connection, as the Veteran requested a higher-level review of these issues in May 2024 but then appealed to the Board in August 2024, leading to concurrent review which is not allowed.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of service connection for peripheral neuropathy and a bilateral shoulder disorder due to challenges regarding the competency of the medical examiner.
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