Other conditions decisions — 2004

The Board denied the veteran's claim for compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151, finding that his urinary incontinence was a reasonably foreseeable result of his prostate surgery performed at a VA Medical Center in September 1999 and not due to carelessness or negligence on the part of VA.

The veteran's PTSD has been manifested primarily by symptoms such as sleep problems, irritability, hypervigilance and startle response that is productive of some social and occupational impairment. He has Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores ranging from 55 to 75. The veteran has maintained a good relationship with his wife, family and friends and is retired. Therefore, the criteria for a 30 percent evaluation for PTSD have been met.

The veteran's claims for increased evaluation and reopening of service connection for back injury, bilateral shin splints, and residuals of a laceration of the right forearm with injury to the cutaneous nerve are remanded for further development.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected subtotal gastrectomy/peptic ulcer disease contributed to his death, and thus grants service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board has granted the veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than November 26, 1996, for a 100 percent rating for service-connected gastrointestinal disability.

The veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 was denied because there is no evidence of a laser procedure performed on his left eye that caused his blindness, and the medical records do not support this allegation.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as there was no credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor occurred.

The case is being remanded for the appellant to request a Board hearing at either the RO or via videoconference, and then for the RO to schedule the appropriate hearing before returning the case to the Board.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a VA examination to determine if the veteran currently has Osgood-Schlatter's disease of his right knee, which would be required for service connection.

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and found that accrued benefits claim is without legal merit.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining VA medical records and scheduling a VA examination to determine if the veteran's service-connected bilateral pes planus with bunionectomy is at least as likely as not the proximal cause of arthritis in his knees, ankles, and/or feet.

The VA denied service connection for a colloid cyst of the third ventricle of the brain, claimed as secondary to bilateral otitis externa. The VA also denied service connection for reactions to penicillin and Keflin. Finally, the VA denied a compensable rating for bilateral otitis externa.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected left foot disability warrants a 20 percent evaluation, resolving reasonable doubt in his favor.

The veteran's duodenal ulcer with hiatal hernia is not moderate in severity and does not meet the criteria for an increased rating.

The veteran's fungal infection of the right foot is manifested by constant itching with lesions, fissures, scaling and hyperpigmentation. The condition does not extend over an area of more than 40 percent of the entire body or more than 40 percent of exposed areas, but has required constant systemic therapy such as corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive drugs.

The Board determined that the cause of the veteran's death was not proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury, and therefore denied both the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and the claim for dependents' educational assistance.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for an increased rating for his chronic prostatitis and nonspecific urethritis, currently rated at 30 percent. The condition did not meet the criteria for a higher disability rating.

The Board found that the veteran's discharge under conditions other than honorable did not bar him from receiving VA benefits due to compelling circumstances warranting his prolonged unauthorized absence.

The Board has determined that the veteran's somatization disorder warrants a 70% evaluation, but his left chest shell fragment wound residuals issue is remanded for further review.

The Board has dismissed the veteran's appeal regarding her right fourth and fifth digit Tailor bunions, post operative, as she did not file a timely substantive appeal within one year of the April 2001 rating decision.