The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for diabetes mellitus, upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy have been denied as his conditions do not warrant a higher rating based on the current evidence.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not show that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities require more than the currently assigned ratings due to their severity or impact on daily activities.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes Mellitus, Peripheral Neuropathy (upper extremities), Peripheral Neuropathy (lower extremities)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- June 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19145187
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and a psychiatric disability due to insufficient evidence of the severity required for higher ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for his diabetes mellitus, a higher rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder, and a total disability rating due to service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart disability, diabetes mellitus, and peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, but denied service connection for multiple tooth trauma.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's service-connected PTSD caused or aggravated his cardiovascular diseases, which were listed as contributing causes of death.
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