The Board has granted service connection for ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus, type II on a presumptive basis due to herbicide exposure. Service connection for right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy is remanded as the evidence is conflicting.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy symptoms are at least as likely as not related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II.
- Claimed conditions
- Ischemic heart disease (IHD), specifically, coronary artery disease (CAD), Diabetes mellitus, type II, Right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071684
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 20071684.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU and DEA claims are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors prior to the rating decision on review. The effective date for TDIU is set at January 31, 2021, based on the last day of employment. However, the RO needs to obtain SSA records regarding earnings from July 2020 to January 31, 2021, to determine if the Veteran's employment was marginal.
- Granted
The rating reduction from 20 percent to 10 percent for the service-connected right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy was improper, and restoration of the 20 percent rating is granted. The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for the right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding the lack of development related to Agent Orange exposure and solvent/asbestos exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for right and left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, as well as right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, were restored to their previous levels of 70%, 60%, 30%, and 30% respectively, effective from February 12, 2025.
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