Other conditions decisions — 2007

The veteran is eligible for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred in April 2005 due to an emergency myocardial infarction, as VA facilities were not feasibly available and the treatment was necessary to avoid serious impairment.

The appeal is being sent back to the RO for further action, including scheduling a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.

The veteran is seeking service connection for a psychiatric disability, including schizoaffective disorder or any other nervous condition. The Board has ordered additional development of his National Guard service records to determine if there is evidence linking the current condition to his military service.

The veteran's adjustment disorder with depressed mood and social phobia was initially rated at 50 percent prior to September 21, 2006. From September 21, 2006, the disability was rated at 70 percent.

The Board has determined that the veteran's schizoaffective disorder, formerly diagnosed as dysthymia, results in total social and occupational impairment due to symptoms such as racing and tangential thoughts, paranoid ideation, hostility toward close relations, and neglect of personal hygiene. Therefore, a 100 percent disability rating is granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of proper development regarding the veteran's exposure to mustard gas. The case will be returned for further action.

The Board has denied the claim to reopen as new and material evidence was not received, and the claim of service connection for schizoid personality disorder may not be reopened.

The veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including a VA eye examination to address the severity of his bilateral lattice degeneration with atrophic holes, status post barrier laser.

The Board has granted a 30 percent disability rating for the veteran's service-connected residuals of left elbow cubital release syndrome, effective from the original effective date of service connection.

The case is being remanded for further procedural steps, including clarifying the veteran's appeal of service connection for herpes zoster and considering his claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for post-herpetic neuralgia due to VA medical treatment.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected fractures of the left clavicle, right fibula, left fibula, and left femur. The appeals were not about service connection for hypertension.

The Board has granted a 20 percent rating for the veteran's hallux rigidus, finding that his disability more nearly approximates moderately severe nonunion or malunion of the metatarsal bones. A separate 10 percent evaluation is also granted for the post-surgical scar of the first metatarsophalangeal joint.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for blindness, right eye; a stab wound, left ear; and a fungal infection of the feet. The claim for service connection for a fracture, right fifth metacarpal was not addressed in this decision.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for apportionment of his father's VA pension benefits, finding that neither a general nor special apportionment was warranted due to financial hardship caused by an apportionment.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for service connection and increased evaluations, finding no evidence linking his current gastroesophageal disability to his military service.

The veteran's claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits was denied multiple times, and no new or material evidence was submitted to reopen the claims. The most recent denial occurred in 2003 when he filed a request to reopen his claim after receiving medical opinions indicating permanent and total disability. His claim was granted with an effective date of May 30, 2003.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected hiatal hernia does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under Diagnostic Code 7346, as there is no evidence of two or more symptoms necessary to warrant such a rating. The veteran's heartburn and epigastric distress are mild, and he denies regurgitation, vomiting, or substernal arm/shoulder pain.

The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of service personnel records and needs further development before deciding on the claim.

The Board found that the veteran does not have a current dental disorder and thus denied his claim for service connection for a dental disorder, originally claimed as extractions for dentures and dentures.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been received to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral progressive cataracts. The decision is mixed as some issues may be granted while others are denied.