Other conditions decisions — 2015

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected aspergillosis and a general medical examination to determine if he is unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment of VA improved pension benefits in the calculated amount of $29,169.00 is timely and the appeal is granted.

The Veteran's bilateral onychomycosis of the feet is rated as noncompensable, and a separate rating of 10 percent for tenderness and pain due to onychomycosis of the right great toe is granted.

The Veteran's adjustment disorder is rated at 50 percent since March 27, 2008. The rating was granted based on new and material evidence of his condition.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development to determine if the Veteran's residuals of gall bladder surgery are related to his first period of service from February 1956 to February 1968 and whether there is clear and unmistakable evidence that the condition was not aggravated by any periods of active service or active duty for training following his cholecystectomy in 1972/1973.

The Board has determined that the March 2012 VA examination for leucopenia is inadequate due to an inaccurate premise of a lack of in-service exposure to toxins. The case is REMANDED for a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's current leucopenia may be etiologically related to his in-service herbicide exposure.

The Veteran's service-connected chronic prostatitis has caused him to awaken at least five times per night to void, warranting a 40 percent disability rating.

The Veteran's appeal for reimbursement to licensing and certification benefits under Chapter 32 (for the VEAP) or Chapter 30 (for the MGIB program) is denied as he did not transfer his enrollment from the VEAP to the MGIB program.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's claim of service connection for Addison's disease due to his failure to appeal a December 1964 rating decision, and found no CUE in that decision. The decision is final based on the evidence at the time.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for right leg amputation. The Veteran's liver disability is still under consideration.

The Veteran does not have a current respiratory disability and there is no evidence of service connection for the claimed condition.

An effective date earlier than February 24, 2009, is not warranted because it was not factually ascertainable that an increase in disability had occurred prior to this date.

The Veteran's reactive airway disease is currently rated at 10 percent, but the evidence does not meet the criteria for a higher rating based on his pulmonary function test results.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and clarifying the relationship between his service-connected hallux rigidus and other foot conditions.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for cardiomyopathy as secondary to service-connected hypokalemic periodic paralysis and finds that a heart disability, specifically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, is present. The evidence supports an interrelation between the Veteran's cardiomyopathy and his service-connected condition.

The Veteran's appeal for non-service-connected pension benefits is denied because he does not meet the threshold statutory requirement for eligibility due to his service not meeting the wartime or peacetime service requirements.

The Board has granted an effective date of February 10, 1999 for the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death. The appellant originally filed her claim in December 1978 and was denied initially in June 1979. She sought to reopen her claim in June 1996 but did not receive a new effective date until February 10, 1999.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of her husband's death and for DIC benefits, finding that there was no evidence linking his colon cancer to his military service.

The Board finds that the Veteran's current right hip disability, including bursitis and arthritis, is related to his military service. As such, service connection for a right hip disability is granted.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for ischemic stroke, finding that there was no evidence of exposure to herbicides or asbestos during his service and thus denying the claim.