The Board has determined that the Veteran's diabetes mellitus does not warrant a rating in excess of 20 percent as it only requires restricted diet and one or more daily injection of insulin, which is consistent with a 20 percent disability rating under VA regulations.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s diabetes mellitus required only restricted diet and one or more daily injection of insulin during the period on appeal, meeting the criteria for a 20 percent disability rating but not warranting an increase to higher ratings based on additional complications or restrictions.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, lumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19140000
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 19140000.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- 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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