The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and higher ratings for various service-connected conditions, except for a few granted evaluations.
The deciding factor: The earliest entitlement dates were based on the date of claim or examination findings, as applicable, with no clear and unmistakable error found in the initial effective dates assigned.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type II, left lower extremity (LLE) diabetic neuropathy of the sciatic nerve, right lower extremity (RLE) diabetic neuropathy of the sciatic nerve, LLE diabetic neuropathy of the femoral nerve, RLE diabetic neuropathy of the femoral nerve, left foot hammer toes, right foot hammer toes, left foot hallux valgus, right foot hallux valgus, coronary artery disease (CAD), unstable angina, congestive heart failure, valvular heart disease, heart block, cardiomyopathy, status post myocardial infarction, supraventricular arrhythmia, diabetic nephropathy, degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease (DDD) and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the lumbar spine, left knee arthritis with painful limitation of motion, right knee arthritis with painful limitation of motion, scars, residual from squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in remission and actinic keratosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25107431
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 A25107431.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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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