The Veteran's diabetes mellitus is presumed to have been incurred during his active service in Thailand. The Board has also remanded the issues of service connection for peripheral neuropathy, right and left lower extremities, Barrett’s syndrome, and melanoma due to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was exposed to herbicides while serving in Thailand and has current diagnoses of diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, Barrett's syndrome, and melanoma. The Board found that the presumption of service connection for these conditions based on herbicide exposure applies.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity, Barrett’s syndrome, melanoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19132210
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 19132210.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted the Veteran's requests to readjudicate his claims for service connection for coronary atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus type II, but has remanded the cases due to new evidence received. The claims are being remanded for toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) medical opinions regarding any possible nexus between the Veteran's claimed exposures in Camp Lejeune and his conditions.
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