The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for Diabetes Mellitus (Type II) and left eye blindness due to potential direct service connection based on exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The Veteran's medical conditions are not entitled to presumptive service connection, but may be related to his service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran’s diabetes mellitus and left eye blindness could potentially be related to his service due to presumed exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, and requested a VA medical opinion to address this issue.
- Claimed conditions
- Diabetes Mellitus (Type II), left eye blindness
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20068324
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · Granted: 21% (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 20068324.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left eye injury, claimed as blindness, finding that it had its onset in service and is related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal of VA withholding his disability compensation benefits to offset a $600,000 tort settlement. The decision found that the withholding was proper under law.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's acne was granted a 10 percent rating for the period prior to March 26, 2021, and denied a compensable rating thereafter. Service connection was granted for diabetes mellitus and pancreatitis as secondary conditions.
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