Service connection is granted for right shoulder disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, and right knee disability.,Service connection is granted for sleep apnea. The Board finds the evidence at least in equipoise as to whether it was caused by service.,Service connection is granted for diabetes mellitus. The Veteran's representative provided a private opinion stating that his current condition may or may not be related to service, which is considered speculative and thus remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s right shoulder disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, and right knee disability are related to his active duty service.,There is no evidence of sleep apnea or respiratory issues during service. The private examiner's opinion that it was caused by events during service is considered at least as likely as not.,The Veteran has diabetes mellitus which may be related to in-service herbicide exposure and extreme cold, but the relationship is speculative.
- Claimed conditions
- right shoulder disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, right knee disability, sleep apnea, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19153154
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 19153154.
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 Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a heart condition, including ischemic heart disease. The evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service.
- Partly granted
The Board has not made a final determination on the claims of service connection for inguinal hernia, PTSD, joint pain, fibromyalgia, left knee disability, right knee disability, tinnitus, chronic fatigue syndrome, respiratory disability, sleep disorder, IBS, and headaches. The claims are remanded to obtain additional evidence and determine if these conditions are related to service.
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