The Veteran's application to reopen the claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II has been granted. The Board finds new and material evidence sufficient to reopen the claim of service connection for diabetes has been received, but remands are still required for further examination and development regarding his right and left knee disabilities and depressive disorder.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's application to reopen the claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II was granted. However, additional evidence is needed to determine if direct service connection can be established due to the lack of a definitive opinion on whether the condition began during or within one year after service.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II, depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19107112
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, characterized as depressive disorder, effective May 1, 2017.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and penile cancer as there was no evidence of a medical nexus between the Veteran's conditions and his military service.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted service connection for migraine headaches secondary to tinnitus, effective April 1, 2021. The claim for an earlier effective date for depressive disorder was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, specifically to verify the Veteran's assertion of herbicide exposure while working on C-123 aircraft at Clark Air Base from May 1965 to November 1966.
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