The Veteran's attorney is denied additional attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in the February 2019 rating decision because he has already received the properly calculated attorney fees for 20 percent of the total award.
The deciding factor: The past-due benefits were miscalculated due to a missing increase from July 2011 to April 2013, and the Veteran received additional past-due benefits in June 2020 which already included attorney fees for 20 percent of that total cash payment.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, upper and lower peripheral neuropathy associated with diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 8, 2020
- Citation
- A20018164
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.
- Partly granted
The Board grants service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's tinnitus began during his period of active duty service. The claims for ischemic heart disease, aortic valve replacement, status post aortic stenosis, and peripheral vascular disease with popliteal aneurysm are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's ischemic heart disease, as the previous opinions were found inadequate.
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