The claim for service connection of diabetes mellitus is reopened and granted. The claims for respiratory disorder, left shoulder disability, generalized arthritis, neck pain, right wrist pain, left leg disability, and left thigh disability are also reopened and granted.
The deciding factor: New evidence submitted by the Veteran includes updated medical records indicating a current diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, which was not previously considered in the August 2012 decision. The new evidence does not provide any additional information regarding the other conditions or their relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, respiratory disorder (bronchitis), left shoulder disability, generalized arthritis, neck pain, right wrist pain, left leg disability, left thigh disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- April 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19129246
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19129246.
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.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- 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 Board has denied service connection for residuals of gallbladder removal and remanded the other claims due to insufficient evidence.
- 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.
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