The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 30 percent rating for cataracts secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, as it was not factually ascertainable that the disability was disabling to a compensable degree prior to February 9, 2006.
The deciding factor: The earliest evidence of a compensable level of visual acuity was on February 9, 2006, and thus an earlier effective date is not warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- cataracts
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0910731
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0910731.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss claims are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's high cholesterol, dementia, stroke, prostate cancer, cataracts, diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and myocardial infarction claims are denied due to lack of service connection evidence or insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the disabilities and active duty service.,The Veteran was exposed to toxins during his military service but there is no evidence linking these exposures to any of the claimed conditions.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection of cataracts has been dismissed due to the appellant's death prior to a Board decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye condition should be remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors and the need for an updated TERA Memorandum. The Veteran was not provided with a VA examination, and her allegations of exposure during basic training were not addressed.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeals.
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