Epilepsy & seizure disorders Board decisions

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection due to lack of evidence linking his current conditions to military service.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for a seizure disorder as secondary to service-connected shell fragment wounds to the head with skull fracture.

The Board found that the evidence received since the February 2002 rating decision does not relate the veteran's seizure disorder to service and is therefore not new and material, thus denying the claim of reopening.

The Board has granted service connection for bipolar disorder and assigned an effective date of October 19, 1967. The issue of a higher rating for psychomotor epilepsy is remanded.

The RO has previously assigned a 10% evaluation for the veteran's seizure disorder effective from September 3, 1992. The veteran and his representative disagree with this rating decision and have requested an increased evaluation to at least 100%. This case is being remanded to issue a proper Statement of the Case addressing these issues.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for headaches, seizure disorder, and stroke residuals. The RO had previously denied these claims in November 1972 without reopening them.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the veteran's claim of service connection for epilepsy. The Board also found that the veteran's current epilepsy is related to his active duty service, thus granting the claim.

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

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a seizure disorder, finding that there is no evidence of a chronic condition during service or within one year after discharge. The isolated seizure experienced by the veteran was related to alcohol withdrawal and not service-connected.

The VA determined that the veteran's vocational goal is not reasonably feasible due to his service-connected disabilities, which prevent him from successfully pursuing a program of higher education and employment.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1151 due to a finding that he did not incur additional disability as a result of carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill or error in judgment on the part of VA health care providers who treated him for a fracture of the left zygoma complex and the left lateral and inferior orbital rim requiring an open reduction and internal fixation in June 1989.

The Board dismissed the veteran's motions alleging clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in various decisions regarding earlier effective dates for compensation and increased ratings.

The veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized private medical expenses incurred at Saratoga Hospital on April 23, 2002 is denied because the claim was filed more than 90 days after the date of discharge from the hospital.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a seizure disorder related to military service and it is not secondary to his service-connected head injury. Therefore, service connection for a seizure disorder is denied.

The veteran's right frontal cerebral infarct and partial epilepsy were not caused by improper treatment on the part of VA during his November 2000 carotid endarterectomy, and therefore he is not entitled to compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.

The Board found that the veteran's claimed stressor of sexual assaults during her period of active duty service has not been verified, and she did not engage in combat with the enemy. Therefore, PTSD was not incurred in or aggravated by the veteran's active service.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a head injury disability, characterized as a seizure disorder. The evidence submitted did not provide new and material information to support the veteran's case.

The veteran's PTSD is currently rated at 100 percent disabling, effective May 22, 2002. The RO has also granted entitlement to nonservice-connected pension benefits.

The Board denied the veteran's claim to establish an earlier effective date for his service-connected grand mal epilepsy, finding that new and material evidence had not been submitted.

The veteran's claim for service connection of a seizure disorder is being remanded for further development at the local RO.