The Board has remanded the claims for type II diabetes mellitus and a bilateral eye condition, as well as the TDIU claim due to conflicting medical opinions and need for further development.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's DM and diabetic retinopathy are being evaluated based on whether they were caused or aggravated by his service-connected right ankle condition and obesity.
- Claimed conditions
- type II diabetes mellitus (DM), bilateral eye condition, to include diabetic retinopathy
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20073993
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 20073993.
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 Veteran's heart conditions, including CAD, MI, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure, supraventricular arrhythmia, and CABG are granted as presumed due to herbicide exposure. DM is also granted. Peripheral neuropathy of the LLE, RLE, LUE, and RUE is granted secondary to DM.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension, type II diabetes mellitus (DM), and migraine headaches are all granted as service-connected. The hypertension is considered direct service connection due to the preexisting condition not being aggravated by service. Type II diabetes mellitus (DM) is found to have started during service based on post-service medical records showing progression from impaired fasting glucose to a confirmed diagnosis of DM II. Migraine headaches are also granted as they were first diagnosed during active military service and linked to in-service noise exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, psychiatric disability, GERD, DM, CAD, and ED have been granted with effective dates ranging from July 29, 2022 to September 8, 2021. The claim for service connection for OSA was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for several conditions, including diabetes mellitus and peripheral neuropathy, but denied increased ratings for intervertebral disc syndrome and other conditions.
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