The Board has granted an effective date of August 7, 2000 for secondary service connection to polysubstance abuse. The increased rating claim for diabetes mellitus is denied. Other issues on appeal are remanded.
The deciding factor: An earlier effective date was granted based on a VA medical opinion received within one year of the formal claim for service connection for primary PTSD disability, which related the secondary polysubstance diagnosis to that condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Polysubstance abuse, Skin disorder (presumed due to herbicide exposure), Left eye disability, Psychiatric disorder (other than PTSD or polysubstance abuse)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 24, 2020
- Citation
- 20074972
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 various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, alcohol abuse, a liver disability, and hand and eye disabilities, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to service or secondary to any service-connected condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, right shoulder disability, left elbow disability, right elbow disability, left ankle disability, and right ankle disability as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to service. The claims for psychiatric disability, obstructive sleep apnea, left eye disability, right eye disability, cervical spine disability, and left shoulder disability were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an enlarged prostate, a bladder disability, and right and left eye disabilities as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active military service, including in-service herbicide exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the reopening of claims for service connection based on new and material evidence, but remanded several issues for further development.
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