Other conditions decisions — 2002

The Board found that the veteran did not suffer head trauma in service and does not have organic brain disorder related to his service-connected knee disability. Therefore, service connection for organic brain disorder is denied.

The Board denied the veteran's requests to reopen his claims for service connection for liver and esophageal disorders, both of which were secondary to herbicide exposure. The evidence submitted was not considered new and material.

The Board dismissed the motion for revision of a 1998 decision denying attorney fees from past-due benefits due to lack of compliance with requirements set forth in regulations.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected schizoaffective disorder is productive of a level of social and industrial inadaptability that more nearly approximates a disability picture consistent with that of a demonstrable inability to perform substantially gainful employment, warranting a 100 percent rating.

The appellant cannot be considered the veteran's surviving spouse for VA death pension benefits as she was legally divorced from the veteran at the time of his death.

The veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of tobacco usage, claimed as tobacco dependence and resulting cancer of the larynx was denied because it was filed after June 9, 1998, when a law prohibited such claims.

The Board found that the veteran's failure to notify VA of his September 1998 divorce and May 1999 remarriage created an overpayment, but waived recovery due to lack of fault on VA's part and undue hardship for the veteran.

The veteran's overpayment of improved pension benefits was denied due to his failure to report increased family income, which amounted to bad faith and resulted in a loss to the government.

The Board denied the petition to reopen the claim for service connection for cause of death, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted.

The VA denied the appellant's claim for burial benefits due to her failure to file a timely application within two years after the veteran's death.

The Board determined that the veteran's allergies were not incurred in or aggravated by his military service.

The Court directed that service connection for defective hearing be reinstated as of October 1954 due to clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in the previous decision.

The Board found no evidence that the veteran's CVA was caused by VA treatment and denied both his claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 and his service connection claim secondary to PTSD.

The Board found that the veteran's preexisting spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis did not undergo any permanent increase of severity during service, thus denying service connection.

The Board has determined that the veteran's bilateral knee disability, specifically right and left chondromalacia patella, does not warrant a compensable disability rating based on current evidence of record. The RO previously evaluated the veteran's knee disabilities under Code 5024 (tenosynovitis) but found no basis for additional ratings due to lack of limitation of motion or other factors.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for ruptured bowel and amputation of the lower legs, both claimed to be caused by exposure to mustard agent in service. The medical evidence did not support a direct relationship between these conditions and the mustard agent exposure.

The VA denied a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for the veteran's residuals of right inguinal hernia repair from November 1, 1991 through September 30, 2000.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an original evaluation in excess of 20 percent for separation of the right acromioclavicular joint, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on current disability.

The veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is denied as the hematoma to his left upper extremity was not caused by VA carelessness, negligence, or error.