The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for diabetes mellitus, type II and atrial fibrillation and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy due to service-connected PTSD or herbicide exposure. Additional medical opinions are needed to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The need for addendum VA opinions is based on inadequate medically supported rationales provided by previous examiners, who relied heavily on an absence of in-service records without considering both direct and secondary service connection claims.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type II, atrial fibrillation and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2024
- Citation
- 24032115
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 24032115.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. The decision finds that the Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II is proximately due to his service-connected PTSD.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and left arm tremors. Service connection for right hand tremors is also granted. The Veteran's tinnitus claim was denied as there is no current diagnosis of tinnitus.
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