Veterans’ RightsAn independent resource for veterans
← All decisions
Denied

The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and hypertension. The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II was not shown to have been incurred in or aggravated by his military service, as there is no evidence of its onset during service or within one year thereafter. Similarly, the record does not show that the Veteran's hypertension had its onset during service or within a post-service year. The Board also found that the Veteran did not provide any evidence of herbicide exposure and thus could not establish service connection based on presumptive exposure to Agent Orange.

The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was no in-service incurrence or continuity of symptoms related to diabetes mellitus, type II and hypertension, and therefore denied both claims.

Claimed conditions
diabetes mellitus, type II, hypertension
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
January 6, 2020
Citation
20000583

Veterans Law Judge

KELLI A. KORDICH

Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · 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 20000583.

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.

Free starter guide for your own claim

Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.

We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.

We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.

This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.