The Board denied service connection for vision/eye disabilities, including myopia, floppy eyelid syndrome, and diabetes mellitus without retinopathy. The Veteran's pre-existing eye/vision disability was found to have existed prior to service and not aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's pre-existing eye/vision disability (myopia) was determined to be a congenital defect that did not warrant service connection, as it is not considered a disease or injury under the law. The Board also found no evidence of aggravation of these conditions during service and concluded that any current disabilities were due to natural progression.
- Claimed conditions
- myopia, floppy eyelid syndrome, diabetes mellitus without retinopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19124464
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Dismissed
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including hives, myopia, pseudofolliculitis barbae, hand arthritis, sinusitis, and left shoulder issues, due to inadequate medical nexus opinions.
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