The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, diabetes mellitus type II (due to herbicide exposure), tinnitus, heart disability, hypertension, neuropathy of upper and lower extremities, psychiatric disorder, vision loss, and erectile dysfunction. The appeal is granted only in relation to the reopening of the claim for diabetes mellitus type II.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the August 2004 Board decision relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim of entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, to include as due to exposure to herbicides.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Diabetes Mellitus Type II, Heart Disability, Hypertension, Neuropathy of Right Upper Extremity, Neuropathy of Left Upper Extremity, Neuropathy of Right Lower Extremity, Neuropathy of Left Lower Extremity, Psychiatric Disorder, Vision Loss, Erectile Dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20069713
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 20069713.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
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