The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including coronary artery disease, essential hypertension with ocular changes, diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, and erectile dysfunction, did not render him totally unemployable prior to May 30, 2014.
The deciding factor: The Veteran had a combined disability rating of at least 70 percent throughout the appeal period, with one disability rated at least 40 percent. However, his service-connected disabilities alone did not prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment prior to May 30, 2014.
- Claimed conditions
- coronary artery disease, essential hypertension with ocular changes, diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130615
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,037 · Granted: 21% (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 19130615.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- 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.
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