The Veteran's request to reopen a previously denied claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus was granted. Service connection for diabetes mellitus is denied, and the Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for sleep apnea. The Board has remanded the cases of rating higher than 10 percent for right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with degenerative arthritis and left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with degenerative arthritis.
The deciding factor: The claim was reopened due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran, which related to a previously unestablished element of the claim. The Board found that diabetes mellitus is not secondary to service-connected back or knee disabilities and is not otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20003708
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and no competent evidence linking the condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
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