The Veteran is eligible for financial assistance in purchasing an automobile or adaptive equipment due to the effective loss of use of one or both feet caused by his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy, resulted in the effective loss of use of one or both feet, which meets the eligibility criteria for automobile adaptive benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, hammertoes with pes planus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20068333
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · Granted: 19% (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 20068333.
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 diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
- Granted
The Veteran's Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular Aid and Attendance is granted as of April 25, 2024.,For diabetes mellitus, a rating in excess of 20 percent is denied.
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