The veteran claimed total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) related to his service-connected diabetes and heart disease. The Board granted TDIU on a schedular basis from January 22, 2019, and on an extraschedular basis from February 15, 2013, to January 21, 2019, finding his part-time courier work constituted marginal employment in a protected environment due to the severity of his combined service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's part-time on-call intermittent employment from March 2011 to October 2019 constituted marginal employment in a protected environment because his employer allowed him flexibility to accept or refuse work without consequences, and his service-connected diabetes with hypoglycemic episodes and heart disability alone were of sufficient severity to produce unemployability, with the evidence in approximate balance favoring the veteran under the benefit-of-the-doubt rule.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus type II, coronary artery disease with bypass graft, chest scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25000204
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 25000204.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus type II, diabetic nephropathy, and prostate cancer. The issues of entitlement to special monthly compensation based on housebound status and eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) are remanded.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for erectile dysfunction, which is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus type II and panic disorder with insomnia. The decision finds that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the erectile dysfunction was caused by these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted a 20% rating for diabetes mellitus type II from June 20, 2020. The right ankle scar claim is remanded due to the Veteran's failure to report for a scheduled examination. The GERD secondary to diabetes mellitus claim and TDIU issue are also remanded.
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