The Veteran's diabetes mellitus is granted service connection on a presumptive basis due to his Vietnam-era exposure. Service connection for PTSD and depressive disorder is denied as the evidence does not meet the criteria for this diagnosis. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities is also denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's diabetes mellitus was diagnosed and found to manifest within one year of presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam, qualifying for presumptive service connection under VA regulations. The March 2007 VA examination did not diagnose PTSD or depressive disorder based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, thus denying these claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- February 17, 2010
- Citation
- 1005773
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 1005773.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and a psychiatric disability due to insufficient evidence of the severity required for higher ratings.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial increased rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability from March 8, 2010, to May 19, 2014, and denied a higher rating thereafter.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for his diabetes mellitus, a higher rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder, and a total disability rating due to service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder of generalized anxiety disorder and depressive disorder, as secondary to the service-connected left ankle disability. Service connection was also granted for pseudofolliculitis barbae, and a 20 percent rating was assigned for left ankle achilles tendonitis from October 23, 2023.
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