Other conditions decisions — 2016

The Veteran's claim for compensation benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is being remanded due to the need to obtain his full informed consent form for the November 2, 2011 surgery.

The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred on April 6, 2014 at Halifax Health Medical Center were reimbursable due to the nature of his injuries and the lack of availability of VA facilities.

The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses for emergency treatment at Florida Hospital Winter Park on December 28, 2013 are approved as the services were rendered in a medical emergency of such nature that delay would have been hazardous to his health.

The Veteran's chronic lymphocytic leukemia is presumed to have been incurred during his military service and the claim for service connection is granted. The issue of entitlement to a total disability rating for compensation based on individual unemployability prior to July 12, 2016 remains pending as it may be affected by the assignment of a disability rating for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The Veteran's pension claim is also remanded due to his submission of income information.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal regarding the claims for service connection for colon cancer with hepatic metastasis and hair loss, to include as due to herbicide exposure. As a result, these issues are dismissed.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to April 3, 2012 for the award of a 50 percent rating for right and left-sided facial numbness due to trigeminal nerve involvement was granted. The effective dates are set at February 15, 2008.

The Board is remanding the case to determine if earlier service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia can be granted based on information from EPA and ATSDR reports, which may have originated in official service department records.

The Veteran's tremors are not considered an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness, and the Board finds that service connection pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1117 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.317 for Persian Gulf Veterans with qualifying chronic disabilities is not warranted.

The Veteran's dementia does not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance or being housebound due to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death has been granted and is effective from November 1, 2010. As a result, there are no longer any issues in controversy.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to a lack of compliance with previous remand directives.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for reimbursement or payment for private medical services provided at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center (SERMC) from February 2, 2011 to February 3, 2011.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for a waiver of recovery of an overpayment of VA pension benefits in the amount of $37,162.00 due to bad faith on the part of the Veteran.

The Board found that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's claim of exposure to nuclear testing at White Sands, New Mexico during service. The Board also noted that there was no in-service diagnosis or treatment for basal cell carcinoma and concluded that the current condition is not related to service.

The Veteran's initial evaluations for incomplete paralysis of the left fifth and seventh cranial nerves have been denied by the Board.,Both conditions are currently rated at 10 percent under Diagnostic Codes 8205 (left fifth nerve) and 8207 (left seventh nerve), respectively.

The Veteran's initial evaluations for incomplete paralysis of the left fifth and seventh cranial nerves have been denied by the Board.,Both conditions are currently rated at 10 percent under Diagnostic Codes 8205 (left fifth nerve) and 8207 (left seventh nerve), respectively.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's paraplegia was not proximately due to his service-connected PTSD, but rather was caused by his own willful misconduct. Therefore, the claim for service connection is denied.

The Board finds that the Veteran's mouth cancer was related to his exposure to radiation during service, and grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral ear disability claimed as perforation of the tympanic membranes and chronic ear infection and otitis media. The Veteran's claim is now pending for further review.

The Board found that the Veteran's death was not caused by his service-connected disabilities, and thus denied service connection for the cause of his death.