Epilepsy & seizure disorders decisions — 2004

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a sporadic chill seizure disorder due to malaria, finding that there was no evidence showing the presence of malaria during his period of active service or within one year following discharge.

The veteran's seizure disorder was increased from 40 to 80 percent disabling effective February 8, 1993. The case is now remanded for further development.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for epilepsy and vision loss, finding no new and material evidence to reopen these claims.

The veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of his grand mal epilepsy.

The Board found that the veteran's seizures were not incurred in or aggravated by service and denied his claim.

The Board has determined that further development is needed to determine the relationship between the veteran's seizure disorder and hip disability with his military service, including considering potential exposure to herbicides or head trauma.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to the need for additional medical records and evidence.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a neurological examination to determine if the veteran's seizure disorder is related to service.

The veteran's seizure disorder is not shown to be related to service or herbicide exposure, and the claim for service connection is denied.

The veteran's seizure disorder has improved, and the VA has restored his rating from 20% to 40%.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of service connection for urethritis, spondylolysis of the lumbar spine, a disability manifested by fatigue with nausea and vomiting as secondary to Reiter's syndrome, a seizure disorder as secondary to Reiter's syndrome, and fibromyalgia. The appeals were all denied due to lack of current medical diagnoses or evidence linking these conditions to service-connected disabilities.

The Board found that the veteran's seizure disorder existed prior to his military service and was not aggravated by service, thus denying his claim for service connection.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for post-traumatic encephalopathy with secondary motor seizures and did not find that he was unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection due to lack of a formal or informal claim prior to May 11, 1999.

The Board has granted service connection for paranoid schizophrenia and denied service connection for a seizure disorder. The veteran's paranoid schizophrenia is presumed to have occurred in service, while the seizure disorder was not found during or after service.

The Board found that a service-connected disability contributed to the cause of the veteran's death, and granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board has granted service connection for a seizure disorder effective July 25, 1977. However, the RO denied Dependents' Educational Assistance benefits on the basis that the veteran's total disability was not permanent in nature. The case is remanded to issue a Statement of the Case addressing this issue.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 100 percent evaluation for his service-connected cytomegalic inclusion disease with organic mental syndrome, impulse control disorder and seizure disorder was denied as the evidence did not show that an increase in disability was factually ascertainable during the one-year period prior to October 31, 2001.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete medical records and the need for a VA examination.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and an initial disability rating of 30 percent for the veteran's skin condition (tinea versicolor). The issues regarding bilateral hearing loss, seizure disorder, and a higher rating for the skin condition are still pending.