Gulf War illness / chronic multisymptom decisions — 2007

The Board found no objective evidence of a chronic cardiovascular condition and denied service connection for chest pain. The digestive issue remains pending.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for Gulf War Syndrome, bilateral knee pain, low back pain, joint pain, chest pain, and abdominal pain. The evidence did not support a finding of chronic disabilities related to these conditions.

The Board found that the veteran's breathing problems were not incurred in or aggravated by active service, and denied his claims for increased ratings of left knee condition and PTSD.

The veteran's claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, memory loss, and weight gain due to Persian Gulf War service were denied. The Board found that the symptoms are not related to her service or a known clinical diagnosis.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, sleep impairment, short-term memory loss, and cervical ribs. The other claims have been denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a neck mass and pain in his hands and feet, finding no evidence of a causal link to service or herbicide exposure. The claim for hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia was previously denied as laboratory findings without an associated disease process.

The veteran's appeals for service connection on the issues of hypertension, headaches, sprain/tendonitis of the left ankle, hearing loss, and respiratory disorder as due to an undiagnosed illness were dismissed because she did not timely file a substantive appeal. The Board does not have jurisdiction over these matters.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for a VA examination and the obtaining of additional medical records to determine the current severity of his service-connected undiagnosed illness.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current left hand disorder and therefore, service connection for this condition is denied. For his mid-back disorder, the VA examiner opined that it is less likely than not related to service-incurred injuries dated May 1994. The skin disorder claim is pending as no diagnosis has been made.

The veteran withdrew his appeal in its entirety prior to the Board's decision.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased disability ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support the requested increases or connections.

The veteran's claims for muscle spasms and Persian Gulf War syndrome were denied. However, the Board found that his irritable bowel syndrome is proximately due to a service-connected disability (fibromyalgia), thus granting this claim.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain relevant records from the Social Security Administration (SSA) for further development.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to unclear evidence of his employability status and the need for a VA examination to assess his current employment capacity.

The veteran's undiagnosed illness manifested by fatigue is currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling under DC 6354. The evidence does not show that the veteran has symptoms which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities by less than 25% of the pre-illness level, or result in periods of incapacitation of at least two but less than four weeks total duration per year. Therefore, a higher rating is denied.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected pain of multiple joints due to undiagnosed illness does not warrant a disability rating in excess of 20 percent.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for sleep disturbances, residuals of sarcoidosis, and low back disorder. The evidence does not support a finding that these conditions are related to active service.

The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain medical opinions regarding the veteran's low back disorder and chronic joint pain of the hips, knees, and elbows as due to an undiagnosed illness related to service in the Persian Gulf War.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded to schedule a Board videoconference hearing at the RO in Nashville, TN. The case will be readjudicated after this.

The Board denied service connection for the veteran's undiagnosed illness manifested by chronic fatigue, attributing it to a known clinical diagnosis of adjustment disorder.