Citation Nr: 18142772 Decision Date: 10/17/18 Archive Date: 10/16/18 DOCKET NO. 15-34 389 DATE: October 17, 2018 ORDER Service connection for type II diabetes mellitus is granted. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, is granted. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Type II diabetes mellitus is presumed to have been caused by the Veteran’s presumed in-service exposure to herbicide agents. 2. Peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity has been caused by the Veteran’s type II diabetes mellitus. 3. Peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity has been caused by the Veteran’s type II diabetes mellitus. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for type II diabetes mellitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. 2. The criteria for service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310(a). 3. The criteria for service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310(a). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active military service from October 1959 to May 1979. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2013 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned at a Board videoconference hearing in October 2018. During the pendency of this appeal, the Veteran initiated a separate appeal on a different issue that was addressed in an August 2016 statement of the case. The Veteran did not perfect the appeal on that issue to the Board, and it is not in appellate status before the Board at this time. Service Connection 1. Service connection for type II diabetes mellitus is granted. 2. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, is granted. 3. Service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, secondary to type II diabetes mellitus, is granted. Service connection may be granted for current disability arising from disease or injury incurred or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131. Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Service connection generally requires (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be granted for a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a). To establish entitlement to service connection on a secondary basis, there must be competent medical evidence of record establishing that a current disability is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. See Lathan v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 359, 365 (1995). Further, a disability that is aggravated by a service-connected disability may be service-connected to the degree that the aggravation is shown. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (b); Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). A veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, shall be presumed to have been exposed during such service to an herbicide agent, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to any such agent during that service. The last date on which such a veteran shall be presumed to have been exposed to an herbicide agent shall be the last date on which he or she served in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. Service in the Republic of Vietnam includes service in the waters offshore and service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in the Republic of Vietnam. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(6)(iii). If a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during service, certain diseases, to include type II diabetes mellitus, shall be service connected even though there is no record of such disease during service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e). Significantly in this case, the RO has issued a May 2017 rating decision that granted the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for coronary artery disease (claimed as ischemic heart disease) on the basis of the RO’s determination that the Veteran was exposed to herbicide agents during his service in Vietnam based on his service aboard USS Okanogan. The Veteran served on the USS Okanogan from May 1960-Sept 1963 which VA has determined operated primarily or exclusively on Vietnam’s inland waterways. The Board accepts the RO’s finding that the Veteran served in Vietnam and was exposed to herbicide agents. The Veteran has been diagnosed with type II diabetes mellitus, as documented in his VA medical records. Therefore, his diabetes is presumed to have been caused by his in-service exposure to herbicide agents. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Additionally, the Veteran has been diagnosed with diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, including as documented in a January 2016 VA examination report. The evidence clearly establishes that the Veteran’s diabetic peripheral neuropathy is causally linked to his service-connected diabetes mellitus. Service connection is warranted diabetes mellitus as due to in-service herbicide   agent exposure, and service connection for peripheral neuropathy for the left and right lower extremities is warranted as due to his service-connected diabetes mellitus. The claims are granted. M. C. GRAHAM Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. Barone, Counsel