The Veteran's appeal for earlier effective dates for service connection and increased ratings is dismissed or denied.,The Veteran's claim of an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for bilateral cataracts must be denied as there was no formal or informal claim prior to October 3, 2016.,The Veteran's claims of entitlement to earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for right and left upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are denied due to lack of evidence of an earlier claim.
The deciding factor: There is no remaining justiciable case or controversy with respect to the appeal as to the award of service connection for right diabetic retinopathy, as it was granted effective March 16, 2007 and there is no evidence that service connection for right eye diabetic retinopathy was ever severed.,The Veteran did not file a claim seeking service connection for cataracts. The grant of service connection is the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.,There is no earlier formal or informal claim for service connection for left lumbar radiculopathy before July 6, 2009.
- Claimed conditions
- right diabetic retinopathy, bilateral cataracts, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20081709
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 Board granted service connection for left and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, finding that the conditions are related to Agent Orange exposure during the Veteran's service in Vietnam.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for eye conditions, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction and left eye retinopathy. However, it denied increased ratings for multiple peripheral neuropathies, hypertension, and status post tympanoplasty.
- Partly granted
The appeal was granted for service connection for latent tuberculosis and dermatitis of the face, while other claims were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for segmental colitis associated with diverticulosis, small bowel obstruction, to include small bowel perforation, status post left hemicolectomy, Hartman's pouch and ileostomy (bowel condition), as well as right and left upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy.
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