The Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetic neuropathy of the left and right lower extremities, and right eye macular edema with retinopathy from branch retinal vein occlusion are denied as there is no evidence of a claim prior to October 8, 2015.,The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to October 8, 2015 for the award of a 100 percent rating for PTSD is also denied due to lack of factual ascertainability before February 2016 VA examination.
The deciding factor: There was no prior pending claims or under the prior regulations a prior informal claim for benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetic neuropathy left lower extremity, diabetic neuropathy right lower extremity, right eye macular edema with retinopathy from branch retinal vein occlusion
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19138736
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (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 19138736.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's SMC is denied as he does not have a separate and distinct disability rated at 50 percent or more, which would be required for the intermediate step of SMC(p).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to insufficient verification of his exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam. The TDIU claim is also remanded as it depends on the outcome of these service connection claims.
- Granted
The Veteran's hearing loss, tinnitus, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and diabetic neuropathy right lower extremity are all granted as service connected due to exposure to herbicide agents in Korea.,The Veteran's diabetic neuropathy left lower extremity is also granted as service connected due to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and the Board granted a TDIU rating based on this finding.
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