Other conditions decisions — 2002

The Board has determined that the veteran's request for payment of expenses related to licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist is denied because the vocational rehabilitation plans did not include provisions for this purpose.

The Board determined that the appellant could not be recognized as the surviving spouse of the veteran for purposes of eligibility for VA benefits due to a legal impediment in his first marriage.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating and extraschedular evaluation for hidradenitis suppurativa is being remanded to the RO for further development of the evidence, including obtaining medical records, employment information, and possibly a VA examination.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for his service-connected residuals of a gunshot wound to the left foot, Muscle Group X, currently rated at 10 percent.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for a mood disorder and for entitlement to a temporary total rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.29 based on hospitalization from September 8, 1998 to October 6, 1998. The veteran's claim for a total disability evaluation due to individual unemployability was also denied.

The veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to the need for further development, including consideration of secondary service connection for left leg disabilities and severance of service connection for right subtotal craniotomy.

The Board found that the veteran's bilateral posterior subcapsular cataracts did not meet the criteria for a compensable evaluation from March 12, 1998 to July 7, 1999. For the period since July 7, 1999, the veteran received a disability evaluation of 30 percent based on his bilateral posterior subcapsular cataracts.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection for an organic sleep disorder, cardiovascular disease, and a disability manifested by night sweats are denied.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for additional dependency benefits for her adopted child, finding that the primary legal requirement - living in the veteran's household at the time of his death and being adopted by the surviving spouse within two years after the veteran's death - has not been met.

The Board determined that the reduction in apportionment of the veteran's VA disability compensation benefits from $300 to $200 was proper due to the appellant no longer being entitled by law to an apportionment. The claim for increased apportionment on behalf of A. A., the minor son, was granted.

The Board has determined that service connection for disability due to alcohol and/or drug use is now available under the law, as it may be established on a secondary basis where they are proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury.

The Board found that the veteran's default in payment of the mortgage on the subject property was not intentional, and that delay by VA unnecessarily inflated the current indebtedness. The decision grants partial waiver of recovery for $20,985.08 plus accrued interest, but denies full waiver due to the remaining $5,000 of loan guaranty indebtedness.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected right arm disability warrants a 70 percent rating, effective from December 1996. The veteran is also found to be unemployable due to his service-connected disability.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for restoration of a 100 percent disability rating for teratoembryonal cell carcinoma of the left inguinal canal, finding that the May 1971 reduction in rating was procedurally correct and no revision of the decision was warranted.

The Board has determined that there is no current diagnosis of arthritis in the veteran's hands or arms, and thus service connection for these conditions cannot be granted.

The Board denied the veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for residuals of an eye injury, finding that new and material evidence had not been submitted.

The Board found no indication of fraud, misrepresentation or bad faith on the part of the appellant. The overpayment was not created through such means and recovery would be against equity and good conscience.

The Board found that the veteran currently suffers from COPD, but there is no evidence of asbestosis and no link between COPD and in-service exposure to asbestos.

The veteran's appeal regarding service connection for a respiratory disorder, claimed as secondary to radiation exposure has been dismissed due to the death of the veteran.

The Board found no evidence to support a rating higher than the current 10 percent for Graves' disease, and denied the veteran's claim.