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Denied

The Veteran's claim for a separate, compensable rating for bilateral retinopathy associated with his service-connected Type II Diabetes Mellitus was denied. The earlier effective date claim for the initial 10 percent rating for bilateral open-angle glaucoma was granted.

The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support the Veteran's contention that he had a separate and distinct disability of bilateral retinopathy, which would warrant a separate compensable rating. His visual acuity was only 20/40 in both eyes, without any visual field impairment attributable to his diabetic retinopathy.

Claimed conditions
Bilateral retinopathy associated with Type II Diabetes Mellitus
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
June 3, 2016
Citation
1622516

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 1622516.

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