Citation Nr: 21064085
Decision Date: 10/19/21	Archive Date: 10/19/21

DOCKET NO. 17-39 969A
DATE: October 19, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran's type 2 diabetes mellitus is presumed to be related to his exposure to herbicide agents during service.  

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus are met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307(a)(6), 3.309(e). 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from December 1968 to December 1974.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2016 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs. Although the Veteran requested a hearing in his VA Form 9, he subsequently withdrew his hearing request in July 2020.  38 C.F.R. § 20.702(e).   

Entitlement to service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus

The Veteran contends that his type 2 diabetes mellitus is due to his exposure to herbicide agents during service.  

The Board recognizes that VA treatment records refer to the Veteran as having pre-diabetes, rather than diabetes, and that a May 2016 VA examination found that the Veteran does not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. However, a June 2017 private treatment record submitted by the Veteran indicates that the Veteran has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications.  The requirement that a current disability be present is satisfied when a claimant has a disability at any time during the pendency of that claim. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007). 

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 herbicides, unless there is affirmative evidence to establish that the Veteran was not so exposed during that service.  38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(6)(iii).  Service connection may be established on a presumptive basis for certain disabilities resulting from exposure to herbicides, including Type 2 diabetes (also known as Type II diabetes mellitus, or adult-onset diabetes), 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(e).

The Veteran's personnel records indicate that he served in the Republic of Vietnam from May 1969 to June 1970, so he is presumed to have been exposed to herbicide agents during service. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the diseases presumed to have been caused by exposure to herbicide agents. Therefore, a nexus is presumed in this case.

For the foregoing reasons, entitlement to service connection for type 2 diabetes mellitus is granted.

 

 

M.E. Larkin

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Budd, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.