The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for diabetic retinopathy as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus because there is no evidence of a service-connected disability upon which to base the secondary service connection claim.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted for diabetic retinopathy as it was not caused or aggravated by a service-connected condition, and the Veteran does not have any service-connected disabilities at this time.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetic retinopathy, diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2019
- Citation
- A19001666
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cervical spine condition, diabetes mellitus, heart condition, lumbar spine condition, and urinary frequency and voiding condition as there was no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied an effective date prior to April 11, 2013, for the award of service connection for diabetic retinopathy and grade 2+ anterior vacuoles due to a lack of evidence indicating an intent to apply for benefits or communication related to these conditions before that date.
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