The Board has remanded the claims for increased ratings and earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus II, cataracts, bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and nephropathy associated with diabetes mellitus II. The Veteran's diabetes is presumed to have resulted from herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic codes due to lack of specific findings required for such ratings.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus II, cataracts, bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy associated with diabetes mellitus II
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104244
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for a bilateral knee disability, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, and chronic pain syndrome due to untimely notices of disagreement.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy secondary to the veteran's service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for coronary artery disease with stent placement, diabetes mellitus II, scarring of lungs and liver, hypertension, hypothyroidism, and obstructive sleep apnea was withdrawn by the Veteran through his attorney.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claim for service connection for bilateral pes planus, finding that it preexisted service and did not increase in disability. The claims for ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and pes planus were remanded for further development.
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