Other conditions decisions — 2001

The appellant is entitled to receive accrued benefits in the amount of $2,128.41 based on medical and burial expenses he incurred for his mother-in-law's last sickness.

The veteran's request for additional rehabilitation services, including educational assistance under Chapter 31 of the VA Rehabilitation Program, was denied as he has achieved his program goal and no longer has an employment handicap.

The Board denied the reopening of a claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that no new and material evidence had been presented.

The appellant is not entitled to VA death benefits as she was legally divorced from the veteran at the time of his death.

The veteran's claim regarding the amount and existence of an overpayment of improved pension benefits is being remanded for further development, including addressing his contentions about unreimbursed medical expenses in 2000 and his wife's retirement benefits.

The VA has granted service connection for torticollis and assigned a 10 percent rating effective January 22, 1998. The veteran's torticollis was found to be of moderate intensity.

The veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Mary Washington Hospital from July 31, 1996, through August 2, 1996 was denied.

The veteran's spouse, the appellant, requested an apportionment of his VA improved disability pension benefits. The RO denied her claim as she did not show financial hardship during the relevant period.

The veteran seeks service connection for a lung disorder, claiming it is related to his service. The RO has not yet reviewed medical records from his first period of service and the VCAA requires additional notification and development action.

The veteran's cataracts are not shown to be etiologically related to service, and the Board finds that he does not meet the criteria for service connection due to exposure to ionizing radiation.

The Board denied the veteran's waiver of recovery of an overpayment of improved pension benefits, finding fault on his part in creating the overpayment and concluding that it would not be against equity and good conscience to compel recovery.

The Board denied an increased rating for the veteran's service-connected residuals of a shell fragment wound to the left shoulder with injury to Muscle Groups III, V, and VI, finding that the disability was productive of severe impairment of the affected muscle groups warranting a 30 percent evaluation.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a nervous condition, to include a psychosis, finding no new and material evidence had been submitted.

The VA determined that the appellant's net worth is too high for her to receive improved death pension benefits, as her assets are sufficient to cover her living expenses.

The Board has determined that the veteran's left knee disability, characterized by arthritic findings and slight limitation of flexion with pain, warrants a 10 percent evaluation.

The veteran's claim for a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability was granted with an effective date of November 6, 1996.

The Board denied compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for the veteran's claimed postoperative neurological residuals of a hemorrhoidectomy performed in February 1980, finding that there was no clear and unmistakable error.

The VA determined that the veteran's varicose veins of the right leg do not warrant a rating higher than 10 percent, as they are currently manifested by no actual varicosities except for a small bulge on the right lower lateral aspect of the leg. The current 10 percent evaluation is protected.

The VA determined that the veteran's peripheral vascular disease was not incurred or aggravated in service and denied his claim.

The Board is requesting additional medical records and development to determine if the veteran's death was caused by Agent Orange exposure or otherwise related to his service.