The Board has determined that the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet is secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus, and therefore grants service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy was more likely caused by excessive smoking than by diabetes, but applied a presumption in favor of the Veteran due to conflicting evidence and reasonable doubt.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 21, 2017
- Citation
- 1759417
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 1759417.
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 the Veteran's claims for service connection for a thyroid disability with parotid gland, pernicious anemia, and peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet. The evidence submitted did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating these claims.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet, finding that new evidence received since the February 2008 rating decision raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. The case is now remanded to obtain VA medical records and schedule the Veteran for an examination.
- Denied
The VA determined that the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet is not related to his service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis, and therefore denied secondary service connection.
- Denied
The veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the hands and feet was not incurred in or aggravated by service, including exposure to Agent Orange. The Board found that his current condition does not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection due to Agent Orange exposure.
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