Citation Nr: 18158952 Decision Date: 12/19/18 Archive Date: 12/18/18 DOCKET NO. 17-46 557A DATE: December 19, 2018 ORDER Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, diabetes mellitus manifested to a compensable degree within one year of his service discharge. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an award of service connection for diabetes mellitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 4.119, Diagnostic Code 7913 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from July 1961 to August 1964 and June 1965 to March 1981. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2016 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. Service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II. Service connection is warranted where the evidence of record establishes that a particular injury or disease resulting in disability was incurred in the line of duty in the active military service or, if pre-existing such service, was aggravated thereby. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Generally, in order to prove service connection, there must be competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. See, e.g., Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Pond v. West, 12 Vet. App. 341 (1999). If a Veteran serves 90 days or more of active, continuous service after December 31, 1946, and manifests certain chronic diseases—including diabetes mellitus —to a degree of 10 percent or more during the one-year period following his separation from that service, service connection for the condition may be established on a presumptive basis, notwithstanding that there is no in-service record of the disorder. See 38 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Diabetes mellitus is evaluated under the criteria set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 4.119, Diagnostic Code 7913. A compensable evaluation is warranted if the condition is manageable by restricted diet only. When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the Veteran. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. In the present case, there is no dispute that the Veteran has diabetes mellitus. See, e.g., VA examination report dated in March 2018. With regard to the matter of the nexus, or link, between diabetes mellitus and service, the Board notes that the Veteran’s service treatment records (STRs) reflect a number of suspicious complaints such as edema, fatigue, loss of weight, dizzy episodes, and a slow healing ulcer. However, he was never diagnosed with diabetes during service; to the contrary, the relevant lab results were within normal limits. In August 2017, a statement was received from a physician who treated the Veteran at a VA facility in late 1981, following his discharge from service. According to the physician, the Veteran presented with complaints that consisted of frequent dizzy spells, generalized weakness, polyuria, and polydipsia. He was overweight and gave a history of chronic leg ulcers and edema with difficulty healing. A diabetic workup was positive for diabetes mellitus, which he was advised to control with diet and exercise as a first approach. The Board acknowledges that a March 2018 VA examiner offered an unfavorable opinion with respect to nexus, insofar as he opined that it was less likely that the Veteran’s leg ulcers and/or edema had a relationship with his later diagnosis of diabetes in 1981. However, the examiner did not dispute the 1981 diagnosis. On balance, and taking into account the totality of the evidence, the Board is persuaded that the criteria for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, have been met. The evidence, at a minimum, gives rise to a reasonable doubt on the matter. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. The appeal is granted. DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD O. Owolabi, Law Clerk