The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lacunar brain infarct condition and granted initial ratings of 30 percent for right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome and 20 percent for left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome prior to March 22, 2011. The claim for cardiovascular disorder (other than arterial hypertension) was remanded due to insufficient medical opinion regarding its relationship to service-connected diabetes mellitus. The claims for erectile dysfunction and renal dysfunction were also remanded as the VA examiners did not address whether they are secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus.,The Veteran's right and left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome have been rated based on moderate incomplete paralysis, resulting in a 30 percent rating for each hand prior to March 22, 2011. The Board denied the request for higher ratings.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence did not support service connection for the lacunar brain infarct condition and cardiovascular disorder (other than arterial hypertension). For carpal tunnel syndrome, the Veteran's symptoms were rated as moderate incomplete paralysis prior to March 22, 2011. The claims for erectile dysfunction and renal dysfunction were remanded due to insufficient medical opinions addressing their relationship to service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- lacunar brain infarct condition, cardiovascular disorder (other than arterial hypertension), erectile dysfunction, renal dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19188998
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · 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 19188998.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran meets the basic medical eligibility criteria for PCAFC benefits due to his need for personal care services based on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other impairment or injury. However, further clinical evaluation is needed to determine if participation in the program is in the Veteran's best interest.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer, coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes mellitus type II (DM II), hypertension, and erectile dysfunction as secondary to service-connected DM II. The Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during active service is presumed.
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