The Veteran's service-connected disabilities include fatigue, sleep apnea, and obesity. The Board granted service connection for bilateral ankle strain and bilateral patella tendonitis as proximately due to his service-connected obesity. Service connection was denied for a meniscus tear of the right knee, chronic pain of the wrists, hands, and fingers (including carpal tunnel syndrome), and hiccups and muscular twitching of the eyes as not related to active service or an undiagnosed illness.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions indicated that the Veteran's disabilities were either unrelated to his military service or due to obesity, which is a service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple joint pain affecting the hands, wrists, fingers, knees, and ankles, Hiccups and muscular twitching of the eyes, Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2013
- Citation
- 1318323
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 1318323.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and thus denied his claim for service connection for cause of death.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment prior to September 28, 2021. From September 28, 2021 to May 22, 2022, the Veteran had a combined total disability rating of 100%, which rendered the issue moot as he was already receiving SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and diabetes mellitus, but granted TDIU for the period prior to January 26, 2024.,Prior to this decision, the Veteran withdrew his claim of service connection for diabetes mellitus.
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