The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service onset or relationship to his current diagnoses and that any diagnosed conditions were not related to his service-connected hypertensive retinopathy.
The deciding factor: The July 2021 VA examiner found that the Veteran's eye disabilities are more likely due to natural aging, bacterial infection, or sunlight exposure rather than service connection or herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- cataracts, dry eye syndrome, seborrheic blepharitis, nuclear sclerosis, pinguecula
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 1, 2022
- Citation
- 22032037
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 22032037.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of entitlement to service connection for dry eye syndrome claimed as visual impairment, including blurry vision, blindness, double vision due to procedural error. The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea was denied because there is no evidence of a current diagnosis of sleep apnea.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for OSA is denied as his sleep apnea has not been manifested by persistent daytime hypersomnolence or required use of a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for dry eye syndrome and an increased rating for left knee disability are remanded due to procedural errors in the adjudication process.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss claims are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's high cholesterol, dementia, stroke, prostate cancer, cataracts, diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and myocardial infarction claims are denied due to lack of service connection evidence or insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the disabilities and active duty service.,The Veteran was exposed to toxins during his military service but there is no evidence linking these exposures to any of the claimed conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate VA examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's vision problems, which may be related to his service-connected conditions.
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