Vision Conditions and VA Disability

Conditions in this system

These are eye conditions veterans claim, each with its own diagnostic code in 38 CFR 4.79. Cards with an arrow open a full guide; the rest are on the way.

• Diabetic retinopathy→

  Eye damage from diabetes. Service connected as a complication of service-connected diabetes, and rated on vision or on documented treatment visits.

  DC 6040

• Glaucoma→

  Pressure that damages the optic nerve. A 10% rating applies if you need daily drops, even when your vision still tests well.

  DC 6013

• CataractsGuide in progress

  Clouding of the lens that blurs vision. Rated on your vision and whether the lens was replaced.

  DC 6027

• Retinal detachmentGuide in progress

  The retina pulls away from the back of the eye. Rated on lost vision or active treatment.

  DC 6008

• Unhealed eye injuryGuide in progress

  Lasting damage from trauma or a blast. Can show up alongside a service-connected TBI.

  DC 6009

• Uveitis and eye inflammationGuide in progress

  Inflammation inside the eye that flares. Rated on the flare-ups and any vision loss they leave.

  DC 6000

Connecting an eye condition to service

There are a few ways to tie an eye condition to your service:

• Direct. The condition started in service, or an in-service injury caused it. An eye injury, a blast exposure, or a diagnosis in your records helps.
• Secondary. Another service-connected condition caused it (38 CFR 3.310). Diabetic retinopathy secondary to service-connected diabetes is one example, and eye damage after a service-connected TBI is another.
• Presumptive cause. Glaucoma can be presumptive as an organic disease of the nervous system if you served 90 days or more during a war period or after December 31, 1946 and it shows up to a compensable degree within one year of separation (38 CFR 3.307 and 3.309(a); VA's adjudication manual, M21-1 Part V, Subpart iii, Chapter 2, Section A, Block 3.a). For other eye conditions, the cause behind them can be presumptive. Type 2 diabetes tied to Agent Orange is presumptive under 38 CFR 3.309(e). Retinopathy is not on that list; it is service connected as a complication of the diabetes under 38 CFR 3.310, on medical evidence. See the nexus letter guide for diabetic retinopathy.

For a direct or secondary claim, the VA needs a current diagnosis, an in-service event, injury, or disease (or, for a secondary claim, a service-connected condition), and medical evidence linking them (38 CFR 3.303 and 3.310). If a chronic disease such as glaucoma was shown as such in service, later manifestations of it are service connected unless clearly attributable to an intercurrent cause, with no separate linking opinion needed (38 CFR 3.303(b)). Where an opinion is needed, it has to clear the “at least as likely as not” standard, a 50 percent or better chance. That standard is the benefit-of-the-doubt rule under 38 U.S.C. 5107(b), carried out in 38 CFR 3.102. A nexus letter is one form of that evidence.

See how a diabetes claim connects to eye disease →