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
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,038 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss claims are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's high cholesterol, dementia, stroke, prostate cancer, cataracts, diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and myocardial infarction claims are denied due to lack of service connection evidence or insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the disabilities and active duty service.,The Veteran was exposed to toxins during his military service but there is no evidence linking these exposures to any of the claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus II and associated conditions have produced impairment inconsistent with obtaining or following substantially gainful employment from June 12, 2017, to March 5, 2024. The Board grants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) for this period.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU was granted effective October 24, 2017. The attorney fees are eligible based on the past-due benefits awarded in the May 2021 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional medical opinions are needed to address the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral lower extremity and foot peripheral neuropathy, particularly in relation to herbicide agent exposure during service.
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