The Board denied service connection for obesity, diabetes mellitus as secondary to a service-connected left knee disability, and a separate evaluation of 10 percent for posttraumatic arthritis, chronic meniscal tear instability. The Veteran's claim for an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for posttraumatic arthritis, chronic meniscal tear limitation of flexion was not granted.
The deciding factor: The Board found that obesity is not a disability for VA purposes and denied service connection for diabetes mellitus as secondary to the left knee disability. The Veteran's claim for an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for posttraumatic arthritis, chronic meniscal tear instability was also denied due to lack of evidence supporting such a rating.
- Claimed conditions
- obesity, diabetes mellitus, posttraumatic arthritis, chronic meniscal tear
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125391
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,614 · Granted: 35% (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 19125391.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
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