Other conditions decisions — 2007

The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to determine if the veteran's total disability rating for his service-connected disabilities is reasonably certain to continue throughout his lifetime.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for a separate disability rating for numbness of the stomach as a residual of the service-connected rhizotomy, finding that it is included in the current 30 percent rating for sensory impairment.

The Board found that the appellant's character of discharge for his service period from March 11, 1964 to July 31, 1969 was other than honorable due to unauthorized absence. The appeal is denied as there are no compelling circumstances warranting such prolonged absence.

The Board has determined that the veteran's dysthymic disorder, which is currently rated as 30 percent disabling for depressive neurosis, does not warrant a higher rating due to occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected left knee disability, characterized by severe lateral instability and recurrent subluxation, arthritis, and slight limitation of flexion with pain, warrants a 30 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 5257 for post-operative residuals of a meniscectomy. A separate 10 percent rating is granted based on traumatic arthritis.

The RO denied claims for service connection for a sinus disability and a deviated nasal septum, but granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss with an initial 0 percent rating prior to March 9, 2007, and as 10 percent disabling from that date. The case is being remanded due to the appellant's request for a Travel Board hearing.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current skin condition may be related to service, including a diagnosis of tinea versicolor in service. However, due to the need for further examination and opinion regarding this relationship, the case is being remanded.

The Board has granted a 10 percent evaluation for the veteran's pilonidal cyst status post excision, finding that the disability warrants such an evaluation based on painful scars.

The Board found that the veteran's claimed conditions, including rectal carcinoma with colectomy, skin disorder, and spots on the liver, were not incurred or aggravated by service. The evidence did not support a presumption of herbicide exposure as due to service in Vietnam.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. The medical evidence shows that an aortic valve disorder likely interfered with treatment, leading to the veteran's death.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for basic eligibility for nonservice-connected disability pension benefits due to a lack of qualifying military service.

The Board has ordered a search for missing documentation related to the appellant's claim to reopen service connection for the cause of her husband's death. The case will be returned to the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) in Washington, DC.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the onset and etiology of the veteran's diverticular condition during service.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including schizoaffective disorder. The Board found that a competent medical opinion linked the veteran's current diagnosis of schizoaffective mood disorder to his National Guard service in 1987.

The case is being remanded for further development of the veteran's financial information and to determine if his discharge from bankruptcy affects the validity of the overpayment debt.

The veteran's duodenal ulcer is not manifested by severe symptoms more than twice a year, and the disability evaluation remains at 10 percent.

The VA denied service connection for the veteran's skin disorder, attributing it to post-service exposures rather than service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed disability of difficulty swallowing and excessive saliva was not incurred or aggravated during active duty, nor is it proximately due to or the result of service-connected disability. Therefore, service connection for this condition is denied.

The Board has determined that the cause of the veteran's death, acute myelogenous leukemia, was not caused by or a result of military service, including exposure to ionizing radiation or benzene during his time as an atomic weapons assembler.

The veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation (SMC) based on need of regular aid and attendance or housebound status due to a service-connected disability has been dismissed as the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.