Other conditions decisions — 2001

The Board denied the claim for payment of burial expenses due to insufficient information provided by the appellant regarding reimbursement and specific expenditures.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for educational assistance benefits under Chapter 30, Title 38, United States Code due to his not meeting the eligibility criteria.

The Board found that the veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy and there was no credible supporting evidence of an in-service stressor. The diagnosis of PTSD was linked to events reported by the veteran, but these were not corroborated by competent evidence.

The Board has remanded the case to determine if Buerger's Disease had its onset during service or within one year of discharge. The veteran claims he was treated for erythema nodosum, which is related to Buerger's Disease, and that he received treatment for a red nodule on his left leg in 1972.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has determined that the veteran's service-connected residuals of a left leg injury do not warrant a compensable rating, as his symptoms are characterized by slight muscle impairment without significant limitation of motion or other functional loss.

The Board has determined that the appellant's discharge from service was due to willful and persistent misconduct, specifically drug use. As a result, he does not meet the criteria for being considered a veteran under VA regulations and is therefore ineligible for most veterans' benefits.

The Board has determined that the veteran's currently diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome is a result of dysentery he experienced during his military service in April 1945.

The Board has granted a 100 percent evaluation for service-connected Reiter's syndrome, effective from March 2, 1996.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly evaluate the appellant's service-connected psychological factors affecting medical condition, rule out undifferentiated somatoform disorder. The case will be returned for further action.

The veteran's claim for special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a creative organ is being handled on the merits rather than as an attempt to reopen a previously denied claim. The RO must ensure that all notification and development action required by the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 are completed, including reviewing the claims file and ensuring compliance with new notification requirements and development procedures.

The Board has granted service connection for hiatal hernia and residuals of a fatty liver, but denied service connection for the other conditions as they are not shown to be present or related to active service.

The veteran's request for a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes based on non-service-connected disability is being remanded due to the need for additional development, including scheduling a hearing before a traveling section of the Board and obtaining Social Security Administration records.

The Board has decided that the veteran's current back disorder is related to his service-connected pre-existing condition, and thus grants service connection for it.

The veteran's appeal for an increased rating in excess of 30 percent for his left leg disability was dismissed as he withdrew the substantive appeal. The issue concerning an earlier effective date for the 30 percent rating remains pending.

The veteran filed a timely Notice of Disagreement (NOD) as to the June 1995 denial of his request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment of pension benefits. As a result, the appeal is granted.

The veteran's overpayment of VA improved pension benefits is waived due to the agency's partial fault in creating the debt and the resulting undue financial hardship.

The Board dismissed the motion for revision of a decision based on clear and unmistakable error due to its own vacating of the March 31, 1998 decision.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected bilateral iritis warrants a 10 percent disability rating, resolving all doubts in favor of the claimant.

The Board has dismissed the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death as she did not file a timely substantive appeal within the required time frame.

The appellant is not entitled to VA death pension benefits as she remarried after the veteran's death and her second marriage terminated by divorce.