Other conditions decisions — 2008

The Board has determined that the veteran's current disability, which includes residuals of cold injury to his right and left lower extremities, is consistent with service exposure. Therefore, the claim for service connection is granted.

The Board has determined that there is no causal relationship between the veteran's gout and his service-connected frostbite residuals, and thus denied the claim for service connection.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for spondylolisthesis and spondylosis, L5-S1 due to new evidence submitted since the last final RO decision. The case is now remanded for further development.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for basic eligibility for VA benefits as he had no active military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current perforated right tympanic membrane and therefore cannot establish service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including submission of the claim to the Director, Compensation and Pension service, for extraschedular consideration. The appeal remains pending.

The Board finds that the veteran's failure to timely notify VA of his incarceration and failure to submit an eligibility verification report (EVR) contributed to the creation of overpayment. The Board grants waiver for the portion of the overpayment created by the veteran's incarceration, but denies waiver for the portion created due to his failure to submit the EVR.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service did not meet the basic eligibility requirements for nonservice-connected pension benefits due to a period of less than 90 days of active duty.

The veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a right lung injury, right hand injury, and dental trauma was denied. The Board found that there is no current evidence of residuals of a right lung injury.

The veteran's respiratory condition is granted service connection, but his skin condition is not. The Board found no evidence of a current skin condition and no nexus between the claimed skin condition and service.

The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to provide the veteran with a hearing. The veteran's current mailing address needs to be verified and he should be scheduled for a hearing at the RO in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Board found that the service-connected prostatitis did not cause or contribute to the veteran's death from metastatic prostate cancer. The Board determined that the service-connected condition was unrelated to the fatal cancer.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete medical records and a need for further development regarding the veteran's claimed head injury.

The Board found no clear and unmistakable error in the May 1946 and April 1947 rating decisions that assigned a 10 percent rating for the veteran's bilateral nutritional amblyopia.

The veteran's claim is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination and consideration of an extraschedular rating due to the impact on his employment as a TSA trainer.

The VA denied a compensable rating for the veteran's hallux valgus of the left foot, finding that it did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic code.

The Board finds that the appellant and the veteran entered into a common law marriage at least one year prior to the veteran's death, meeting the definition of a surviving spouse under VA regulations. Therefore, entitlement to non-service connected death pension benefits is granted.

The veteran's service-connected stress fractures of the left and right tibia are each rated at a noncompensable level. The Board has determined that separate 10 percent ratings, but no higher, should be assigned for both disabilities.

The Board denied the veteran's request for an earlier effective date of August 7, 2003 for the grant of service connection for schizoaffective disorder.

The Board found that the cause of death, oat cell carcinoma of the lung, was not incurred in or aggravated by service and is not related to a service-connected condition. The veteran's mental state did not contribute to his death.