The Board found that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and thus denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support a current diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy, which is required to establish service connection on a secondary basis as it was caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disability (type II diabetes mellitus).
- Claimed conditions
- diabetic retinopathy, type II diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 25, 2015
- Citation
- 1536423
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 1536423.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a back disorder, high blood pressure, and type II diabetes mellitus due to errors in development of the claim.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for asthma, hypertension with residuals including stroke, DM II, bilateral amputation of all toes, and diabetic neuropathy to obtain VA medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of these conditions.,The Board also remanded the claim for ED as it is inextricably intertwined with the DM II claim.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD prevented him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.,Given the grant of TDIU based on his service-connected PTSD, the Veteran has a single service-connected disability rated as total (PTSD) and additional service-connected disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew all appeals regarding his service-connected conditions and related disability ratings, effective as of March 16, 2026.
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