Question:

When I previously posted this question, it was a little garbled and I meant to say, that on March 24, 2003, I filled out a VA form called “HEALTH HISTORY FOR PRIMARY CARE ASSIGNMENT” and give it to the VA hospital in Michigan so that I would be eligible for VA medical care. On this form they had a question called DIABETES and I checked YES. I eventually filed a disability claim for diabetes and VA granted me 20% disability for diabetes because of Agent Orange on August 11, 2015. I have some secondary conditions caused from this diabetes and my questions is, can I claim Secondary conditions that happened after March 24, 2003 or only the conditions that happened after the effective date of my diabetes disability August 12, 2015?

Jim's Reply:

Until you filed the claim in 2015, you had no service connected disability. Unless and until you file a claim, an existing condition can't be service connected. Thus, service connected secondary conditions prior to August 2015 don't exist since there was no service connected primary condition before that date.