Other conditions decisions — 2013

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's esophageal cancer was related to his military service, including any potential connection to herbicide exposure.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining records and verifying his alleged herbicide exposure during service.

The Veteran's dismobility intestinal disorder is not manifested by partial obstruction with delayed motility of barium meal and less frequent and less prolonged episodes of pain, which are required for a higher rating. As such, the claim for an initial rating higher than 10 percent for dismobility intestinal disorder is denied.

The Board finds that the Veteran's current complaints of decreased libido and genital sensation are not related to his period of service, including as secondary to his service-connected spina bifida occulta with mechanical low back pain.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for residuals of a right mandible fracture with myofascial pain dysfunction and traumatic arthritis of the temporomandibular joints was denied. The current disability rating is 30 percent, effective May 9, 2012.

The Board has determined that there is no legal basis to recognize the appellant as a surviving spouse for VA purposes due to lack of evidence of a common law marriage prior to the Veteran's death.

The Board has granted service connection for a skin disorder, manifested by rash, finding that the Veteran's symptoms began during active service and have continued since then.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that hypertension did not have its onset in service and was not related to any other condition.

The Veteran's claim for increased disability ratings for his service-connected old healed fractures of the left hand and non conversion features is being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a peripheral nerve VA examination.

The Board found that the Veteran's fatal refractory multilobar pneumonia and psoriatic arthritis were not service-connected, with the latter condition being presumed due to exposure during employment at a shipyard. The cause of death was attributed to methotrexate therapy used for psoriatic arthritis.

The Board determined that the appellant did not have qualifying service to be eligible for a one-time payment from the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund and therefore denied the claim.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete evidence and a need for additional examination. The appellant's claim of service connection for left eye cataract, bilateral blindness, and tunnel vision is secondary to his glaucoma.

The Veteran's claim for compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for residual loss of vision in the left eye resulting from 2006 and 2007 surgical treatment at a VA medical facility is denied as there is no service-connected disability to support TDIU, and the claim for compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is also denied due to lack of evidence showing additional disability was proximately caused by VA care.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings are being remanded to obtain additional medical records and to schedule the Veteran for VA examinations to assess his disabilities.

The Board has determined that the submitted evidence is not new and material, thus denying the Veteran's request to reopen his service connection claim for histiocytoma of the left forearm.

The Board has remanded the case due to procedural errors and requires a full audit of the overpayment amounts, followed by appropriate action on both the validity of the debt claim and the waiver claim.

The Board has ordered the case to be remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and Social Security Administration records.

The Veteran seeks service connection for a back disorder, which the RO has characterized as L5-S1 posterior facet sclerosis. The Board finds that additional development is needed due to new evidence received after the VA examiner's report and an inaccurate factual premise in his opinion.

The Veteran's request for an extension of his delimiting date for MGIB benefits was denied as untimely and without good cause. The Board found that the Veteran did not provide medical evidence showing a disability preventing him from pursuing education, nor did he show good cause for his untimely request.

The Veteran's residuals of a fractured right ring finger are rated at 10 percent, the minimum compensable rating.