The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including those related to undiagnosed illnesses from Southwest Asia service, have been denied as the evidence does not support a finding of qualifying chronic disability due to an undiagnosed illness.
The deciding factor: The medical records do not provide objective indications of chronic disability manifested by an undiagnosed illness for any of the claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- left thumb De Quervain’s tendonitis, right thumb De Quervain’s tendonitis, lower back pain, left knee crepitus, right knee crepitus, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, sleep apnea, hypertension, bowel habit changes (IBS), erectile dysfunction, diabetes mellitus, type 2, migraine headaches, short term memory loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19149063
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19149063.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
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