The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for open angle glaucoma, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus to service and that diabetes mellitus did not cause or aggravate his glaucoma. The Board also found that the disability is not presumptively related to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions were against a secondary service connection claim due to lack of evidence linking diabetes to glaucoma, and because there was no continuity of symptomatology since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Open Angle Glaucoma
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20025149
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 20025149.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected open angle glaucoma is granted an initial 20 percent rating, effective from the date of the decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected open angle glaucoma bilateral eyes is granted an 80 percent disability rating, based on the combination of decreased visual acuity and visual field defect.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection of open angle glaucoma due to insufficient medical evidence and a need for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's PFB is rated at 50 percent, and the Board finds that this rating is not higher than what is warranted based on the evidence of record.,The Veteran's open angle glaucoma from March 11, 2021, is rated at 50 percent. The Board found that a higher rating is not supported by the evidence.
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