The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate opinions regarding whether the Veteran's bilateral open angle glaucoma is secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II. The examiner must consider and discuss relevant lay and medical evidence, including a Mayo Clinic article.
The deciding factor: The Board found the February 2024 VA opinions inadequate for not considering the relevant lay and medical evidence of record, particularly the June 2019 VA Form 9 and concurrent Mayo Clinic article submission which identified glaucoma as a potential complication of diabetic retinopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral open angle glaucoma, diabetes mellitus type II
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2024
- Citation
- 24034411
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 24034411.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and penile cancer as there was no evidence of a medical nexus between the Veteran's conditions and his military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for atrial fibrillation and denied an initial compensable disability rating for hypertension. The claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and increased rating for diabetes mellitus type II were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to correct a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error, specifically to verify the Veteran's assertion of herbicide exposure while working on C-123 aircraft at Clark Air Base from May 1965 to November 1966.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, right hip degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis with acetabular cyst status post right total hip replacement, osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, hypertension, prostate cancer, diabetes mellitus type II, fever sores, and a compromised immune system, as the evidence did not support a finding of service connection for any of these conditions.
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