Other conditions decisions — 2005

The Board has determined that the veteran's skin disorder did not manifest during service and is unrelated to his military service. As a result, the claim for service connection for a skin disorder is denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete examination reports and for further medical opinions regarding the veteran's right shoulder disability. The claims of increased rating for left shoulder disability, service connection for right shoulder disability, and service connection for hepatitis C are pending.

The Board is remanding the case to consider whether it is at least as likely as not that the veteran incurred a disability during service, not the result of alcohol abuse or dependence, that contributed substantially or materially to the cause of the veteran's death.

The veteran's claim for service connection for hematuria is being remanded due to the need to obtain additional medical records from various treatment facilities.

The Board has determined that the cause of the veteran's death, rectal cancer, was not caused or aggravated by his military service.

The veteran's annual countable income exceeded the maximum limit for payment of improved disability pension benefits, and his claim was denied.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen the veteran's claim of service connection for left foot claw great toe. The claim remains denied.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further evaluation and consideration of his claims for service connection due to cold injury to the feet and loss of four bottom teeth. The VA will conduct a vascular and dental examination, and then readjudicate the case.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection have been denied. The conditions claimed are presumed to be due to herbicide agent exposure, but no such evidence was provided or found in this case.

The Board found no evidence linking the veteran's death to service-connected conditions or asbestos exposure, and denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The veteran's skin disorder of the lower extremities is related to service, and the Board grants service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased disability rating for his service-connected left ear otitis media with partial hearing loss, finding that the evidence did not show that the condition warranted a compensable rating.

The Board has determined that the veteran's post-operative residuals of lower lip strip do not warrant a higher than 30 percent rating due to severe incomplete paralysis, but not complete paralysis, of the fifth cranial nerve.

The veteran's disability, residuals of a laceration injury to the dorsum of the right hand with flexion deformity and cubital tunnel syndrome, is currently rated at 30 percent. A separate rating of 10 percent has been assigned for extension lag in the right fourth and fifth fingers.

The Board denied service connection for warts on the right foot, hyperkeratosis of the left foot and left hand, and personality disorder. The claim for service connection for dysthymia was not granted as there is no competent medical evidence linking it to service.

The Board denied the appellant's waiver of recovery of an overpayment of improved death pension benefits in the calculated amount of $5,151 due to bad faith on her part.

The Board denied service connection for ulnar nerve entrapment, a back disorder, gastrointestinal disorders, sinusitis, and blisters on the hands. The veteran's claims were not supported by current medical evidence or continuity of symptomatology.

The Board found that the veteran's cardiovascular disease with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, status post pacemaker implant, was not incurred in or aggravated by his period of active military service and is not due to a service-connected disability.

The Board denied increased disability ratings for the veteran's service-connected herniated nucleus pulposus, L5-S1, and status-post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction of the left knee.

The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation of his postoperative osteoarthritis of the left talocalcaneal joint was granted, with a final effective date from March 2001. The claim for separate evaluations each in excess of 10 percent for two (2) tender and painful scars of the left hand was also granted.