The Board has granted service connection for bilateral upper and lower extremity neuropathy due to presumed exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam, but denied service connection for right eye glaucoma.
The deciding factor: The evidence is in equipoise regarding the relationship between the Veteran's bilateral upper and lower extremity neuropathy and his presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Board found that the Veteran's private medical opinion supported a link to service, while the VA examiner opined against it. For right eye glaucoma, there was no evidence linking the in-service corneal abrasion to the current condition.
- Claimed conditions
- right upper extremity neuropathy, left upper extremity neuropathy, right lower extremity neuropathy, left lower extremity neuropathy, right eye glaucoma
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2021
- Citation
- 21062758
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (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 21062758.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and the Board has granted entitlement to total disability based on individual unemployability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including SMC based on loss of use of the bilateral upper and lower extremities, as well as rating increases for various neuropathies. The AOJ is instructed to obtain an adequate opinion regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected conditions have manifested with the loss of use of his hands, legs, and feet.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for left hip arthritis, right hip arthritis, type II diabetes, right lower extremity neuropathy, left lower extremity neuropathy, and sleep apnea as they have become service-connected in other rating decisions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for TDIU, left upper extremity neuropathy, and right shoulder rotator cuff strain has been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating for left upper extremity neuropathy and right shoulder rotator cuff strain have been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for right shoulder rotator cuff strain has been dismissed.,A 20 percent rating is granted for right lower extremity radiculopathy.,A 20 percent rating is granted for left lower extremity radiculopathy.,The 40 percent rating for chronic lumbar strain with degenerative disc disease was reduced to 20 percent, and the reduction has been restored.
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