The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II. The remaining claims of service connection for a heart condition, hypertension, and kidney cancer are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding herbicide exposure in Thailand.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was presumed exposed to herbicides during his active duty service in Thailand, which is sufficient evidence to presume diabetes mellitus type II. The remaining claims require further examination and opinion on the relationship between service-connected conditions and the claimed disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II, heart condition (including cardiac arrhythmia), kidney cancer
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19166981
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 19166981.
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 remands the claim for service connection for cause of death to obtain a new medical opinion due to errors in previous examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and penile cancer as there was no evidence of a medical nexus between the Veteran's conditions and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, specifically to verify the Veteran's assertion of herbicide exposure while working on C-123 aircraft at Clark Air Base from May 1965 to November 1966.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, right hip degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis with acetabular cyst status post right total hip replacement, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, hypertension, prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus type II, fever sores, and a compromised immune system, as the evidence did not support a finding of service connection for any of these conditions.
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