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

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine