Other conditions decisions — 2015

The Board found no evidence of a right third finger injury during service and concluded that the current disability is not related to service. The claim for service connection was denied.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of death pension with aid and attendance for her mother, finding no basis to assign such a date prior to December 1, 2008.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bunions in both feet were incurred during active service and granted service connection for each.

The Board found that the appellant's discharge was not due to willful and persistent misconduct, thus not a bar to VA benefits.

The Veteran's service-connected ingrown toenail does not result in permanent loss of use of one or both lower extremities, and therefore he is not eligible for automobile and adaptive equipment.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the severity of his dysthymic disorder and whether he has a current diagnosis of sleep disorder. The claim will be re-adjudicated after these actions.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for pension benefits and is now remanding it to allow for a determination on whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen the issue of his character of discharge from military service.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for restoration of eligibility for CHAMPVA benefits from January 1, 2007, through October 31, 2010, finding that she was entitled to Medicare Part A insurance during this period and thus not eligible for CHAMPVA benefits.

The Board found that the Veteran did not have a service-connected disability at the time of his death, and thus could not establish service connection for the cause of death. The Appellant's claim for nonservice-connected death pension benefits was denied as she did not meet the eligibility requirements due to lack of active military service.

The Veteran has been granted service connection for keratoconjunctivitis, which is considered a direct service connection as no presumption or secondary condition was established.

The Board denied the appellant's application to reopen her previously denied claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding that new and material evidence had not been submitted showing a relationship between the Veteran's cause of death and his military service or any service-connected disability.

The Board finds that the Veteran's request for waiver of recovery of overpayment was timely filed, and therefore grants the appeal regarding the timeliness of the request. The preliminary issue of whether the debt as calculated is correct will be addressed in a remand.

The Veteran's right hand neuropathic pain disability was rated at 10 percent prior to February 27, 2009. The claim for an earlier effective date is denied as the rating decision assigning this initial rating did not contain any error.

The Veteran's appeal for a waiver of an overpayment in the amount of $783.00 has been dismissed as the appellant requested to withdraw the appeal.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits for flight training as he did not meet the required medical certification.

The Veteran's service was entirely during a period of war, but did not meet the 90-day requirement for eligibility to nonservice-connected pension benefits.

The Veteran became permanently and totally disabled for VA purposes on September 20, 2002. The appellant was eligible to receive Chapter 35 educational assistance benefits as of that date. However, the appellant did not elect a beginning date within the required 60 days, so the beginning date of March 13, 2012 (the date of the decision establishing permanent and total rating) was assigned.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional medical records and an examination.

The Veteran's hairy cell leukemia was not present during service or within one year of discharge, and there is no evidence linking the condition to service. The Board finds that presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure does not apply due to lack of verified service in Vietnam or Thailand.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left hand arthritis is not related to service or secondary to his service-connected residual laceration of the fourth finger, and thus denied the claim for service connection.