Glaucoma decisions — 2022

The Board has granted service connection for necrotizing pancreatitis residuals, postoperative scars associated with necrotizing pancreatitis, and bilateral glaucoma as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus, Type II.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including major depressive disorder with anxious distress, lumbar spine disability, painful scars of the right knee, hypertension, and other conditions, are found to be sufficient to prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted TDIU based on this finding.

The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for vision loss was denied because the VA care did not cause his additional disability of blurred vision and vision loss, which were related to his service-connected psychiatric disorder (primarily Seroquel or Paxil). The TDIU claim was granted as he had a single service-connected disability rated at least 40% disabling and other disabilities that combined with it reached 70% or higher.

The Veteran's hepatitis B and hypertension have been granted service connection due to exposure during service. The bilateral eye disability is also granted as it was caused by the service-connected diabetes mellitus.,Service connection for hepatitis B, hypertension, and a bilateral eye disability (diagnosed as bilateral steroid responsive glaucoma status post Ahmed and Baerveldt shunts) has been established.

The Veteran's prostate cancer and skin cancer are granted service connection due to herbicide exposure. The Veteran's glaucoma is denied as not related to his active duty service.

The Board denied service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, glaucoma secondary to service-connected diabetes, and hypertension. The Veteran's claims were based on presumptive exposure to herbicides, but the Joint Services Records Research Center found no evidence of such exposure.,Service connection was not granted as there is insufficient evidence to establish actual exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicide agents during service.

The Board has remanded several issues, including service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, glaucoma, and a heart disability. The Veteran's claim for PTSD was reopened due to new evidence submitted within one year of the initial denial in 2001.

The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's claimed conditions, including burning sensation when urinating, glaucoma, diabetes mellitus (DM), left jaw condition, and right foot condition, as they are not related to his active military service or exposure to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune.

The Board has decided that the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral keratoconjunctivitis sicca, also claimed as glaucoma should be remanded due to the need for consideration of additional VA treatment records.

The Veteran's claimed psychiatric conditions, kidney disability, tinnitus, hypertension, diverticulitis, bronchitis, asthma, glaucoma, diabetes mellitus type II (DMII), peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, and Alzheimer's disease are not service-connected.

The Board has readjudicated the claim of service connection for choroidal melanoma, dry eye, glaucoma, and optic atrophy of the right eye due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran. The Board found that this evidence is relevant but not sufficient to establish a link between these conditions and the Veteran's period of active service.

The Veteran's petitions to reopen claims for residuals of cataracts surgery, a neck condition, right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, and arthritis of the right and left hip have been granted. The issues of service connection for glaucoma, residuals of cataracts, a neck condition, right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, and arthritis of the right and left hip are remanded.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral glaucoma, finding that the evidence did not support a direct or secondary relationship to service.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for eye disorder and specially adapted housing/special home adaptation grant due to inadequate opinions regarding service connection, lack of examination on some issues, and need for clarification on certain diagnoses.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right eye condition and an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no credible evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions. The Veteran's current ratings for his hearing loss are found to be appropriate based on the audiometric test results.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and TDIU were dismissed due to his death. The Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of these claims as he died during their pendency.