The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus is found to have caused or aggravated his hypertensive retinopathy, thus granting service connection for this condition.,There is no evidence linking the Veteran’s glaucoma suspect and dry eye syndrome to active service or any incident of service. Service connection is denied for these conditions.,The relationship between the Veteran's disability manifested by pseudophakia/bilateral cataracts and his diabetes mellitus remains unclear, necessitating further examination on remand.,Service connection for small vessel disease cannot be established due to insufficient evidence linking this condition to active service or any incident of service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus is found to have caused his hypertensive retinopathy, as evidenced by the July 2017 VHA opinion.,There is no medical evidence connecting the Veteran’s glaucoma suspect and dry eye syndrome to active service or any incident of service. The July 2017 VHA opinion concluded that these conditions are not related to service-connected diabetes mellitus.,The type of cataract(s) present in the Veteran's eyes must be determined through examination, as the July 2017 VHA opinion could not determine this due to lack of information on the specific nature of his cataracts.,Further medical evaluation is needed to establish a connection between the Veteran’s small vessel disease and active service or any incident of service.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"Hypertensive Retinopathy","related_condition":"Diabetes Mellitus"}, {"condition_name":"Glaucoma Suspect","related_condition":null}, {"condition_name":"Dry Eye Syndrome","related_condition":null}, {"condition_name":"Pseudophakia/Bilateral Cataracts","related_condition":null}, {"condition_name":"Small Vessel Disease","related_condition":null}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19116264
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 19116264.
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.
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