Other conditions decisions — 2002

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim, allowing for a de novo review of the character of discharge. The appellant's bad conduct discharge was upgraded to under honorable conditions by an Army Discharge Review Board, setting aside his previous bad conduct discharge. Therefore, his character of discharge is not a bar to receiving VA benefits.

The Board has determined that the veteran's failure to promptly notify VA of his receipt of Social Security benefits was the sole cause of an overpayment in improved disability pension benefits. The Board found that the veteran had not demonstrated fraud, willful misrepresentation, or bad faith in creating the debt and concluded that recovery would be against equity and good conscience due to the appellant's inability to repay the indebtedness without subjecting him and his spouse to undue economic hardship.

The veteran's service-connected right upper extremity and lower extremity disabilities, as well as his expressive aphasia, are rated at their maximum levels. The veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.,The veteran's homonymous hemianopsia does not result in either a visual field deficit or a visual impairment.

The Board found that the veteran's personality disorder is not a disability for which service connection can be granted, and an acquired psychiatric disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and found that the appellant was not eligible for dependents' educational assistance (DEA) under Chapter 35, Title 38, United States Code.

The Board has determined that the veteran's personality disorder is not a disease or injury for VA compensation purposes and therefore, service connection cannot be granted.

The Board denied the veteran's waiver of recovery of an overpayment of educational assistance in the amount of $7,835.57 due to his fault in accepting benefits he was not entitled to.

The Board denied the veteran's request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment of educational assistance, finding that it would not be against equity and good conscience to require repayment.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hyperopia, strabismus, and pterygium as these conditions are considered congenital defects that were not aggravated by or related to his period of active military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for an undescended right testicle and PTSD. The atrophic right testicle preexisted service, and there was no increase in severity during service. Service connection was not granted as the condition did not meet the criteria for direct service connection.

The Board has granted the veteran's request for waiver of overpayment of improved pension benefits, finding that recovery would be against equity and good conscience.

The veteran's varicose veins with thrombophlebitis of the left leg is rated at 60 percent, and his residuals of a shell fragment wound to the upper right arm are rated at 30 percent. The TDIU claim is granted.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been presented to reopen the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for residuals of a right eye injury, including retinal detachment. The Board found no direct or presumptive link between the current condition and military service.

The Board found that the veteran's bifrontal glioblastoma multiforme did not have its onset during service or within one year of separation, and was not otherwise related to his military service. As a result, it was determined that the cause of death (bifrontal glioblastoma multiforme) neither caused nor contributed substantially or materially to the veteran's death.

The Board found that the veteran's injuries were not due to his own willful misconduct and established service connection for quadriplegia incurred in active military service.

The VA determined that new and material evidence had not been submitted to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for residuals of an upper back injury, including multiple nerve problems in the head, neck and back, misalignment of the back and neck, twitching, and muscle spasms.

The Board found that new and material evidence had been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for residuals of welding burns to both eyes. However, it was determined that there is no chronic disability of the eyes resulting from any welding burns in service or related to service.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for chronic sinus and skin disabilities, finding that there is no current evidence of such conditions.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral axillary and inguinal filariasis, finding that he does not currently have active or residual filariasis.

The Board has determined that the appellant's failure to promptly notify VA of her receipt of Social Security benefits was the sole cause of the overpayment at issue. The Board concluded that recovery of this overpayment would not violate the principles of equity and good conscience due to the appellant's inability to repay it, given her financial situation.