The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension are granted as service-connected. The Board also grants the claims for bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, finding that they are secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II. Service connection is denied for bilateral optic neuropathy.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on presumptive exposure to Agent Orange during service in Vietnam, with the Veteran's diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension being granted as secondary to this exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, bilateral optic neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19143574
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · Granted: 24% (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 19143574.
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 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to conflicting opinions regarding service connection for peripheral neuropathy, hypertension, and skin disabilities related to herbicide exposure.
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