The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II is currently rated at 20 percent, effective March 11, 2011. The claims for hypertension and anxiety/depressive disorder were denied as new and material evidence was not submitted to reopen these claims. Service connection for bilateral knee disorders, hearing loss, tinnitus, hip disorder, ankle disorders, and lumbar spine disorder are all denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II does not require insulin or a restricted diet, thus the highest rating of 100 percent is not warranted. The claims for hypertension and anxiety/depressive disorder were denied as new and material evidence was not submitted to reopen these claims. Service connection for bilateral knee disorders, hearing loss, tinnitus, hip disorder, ankle disorders, and lumbar spine disorder are all denied due to lack of medical evidence linking the conditions to service.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, bilateral knee disorder, left knee disorder, right knee disorder, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hip disorder, left ankle disorder, right ankle disorder, lumbar spine disorder, headache disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- August 12, 2015
- Citation
- 1534367
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 1534367.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and providing proper notice regarding secondary service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
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