Other conditions decisions — 2018

The appeal has been withdrawn by the appellant's representative before a decision was made.

The Board denied the claim for recognition of the appellant as the Veteran's surviving spouse due to a lack of legal basis, as the undisputed evidence indicated that the appellant and the Veteran were neither married nor cohabitating at the time of the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's right foot disability, Morton's neuroma, was caused by his service and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the Appellant's claim, finding that she is not entitled to VA compensation payments issued in the Veteran's name after his death due to the law requiring such payments to be discontinued effective the last day of December 2013.

The Veteran's child, who sustained burn injuries as a minor, is not eligible for improved death pension benefits due to her income exceeding the maximum annual pension rate.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current respiratory disability related to his service, and thus cannot establish service connection for benign calcified granuloma.

The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for diplopia of both eyes was denied. The Board found that the Veteran's diplopia is correctable with spectacles and contact lenses, which are not considered a disability under VA rating criteria.

The Veteran's income exceeded the maximum annual pension rate, thus he is not entitled to a nonservice-connected connected pension with special monthly pension benefits from March 16, 2015 through March 30, 2016.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a dental disorder, claimed as loss of teeth requiring full dentures, is denied because there is no competent medical evidence of such a condition.

The Board found that the beneficiary's income exceeded the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR) limit of $13,794 as of January 1, 2016 and therefore denied her Survivor's Pension benefits.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current back conditions, including L5-S1 herniated disc and degenerative joint disease, are related to his in-service dog bite injury. The decision is based on credible lay evidence of chronic intermittent back pain since 1991.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient information regarding the Veteran's service connection claim for residuals of a left ring finger injury. The Veteran must be afforded a VA examination to determine if his current condition is related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's household net worth is excessive for receipt of non-service connected pension benefits, and therefore denied his claim.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding exposure to herbicides and will need to verify whether tactical herbicides were used in the Veteran's area of service.

The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, either singly or in combination, were not the principal or a contributory cause of his death. The claims for service connection for colon cancer, lymph node removal, skin disability, and blindness in both eyes have been denied as there is no evidence of such conditions during service or within the presumptive period following service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his right and left foot disabilities on an extraschedular basis, finding that the schedular criteria were adequate to rate these conditions. The Board also found that he met the schedular requirements for a TDIU due to service-connected foot disabilities.

The Veteran died in July 1990 due to ventricular arrhythmia and primary electrical disorder. The Board found that these conditions were not related to his service, including presumed herbicide exposure.

The Veteran's claim for a special home adaptation grant is dismissed as moot due to the award of specially adapted housing.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's ventral hernia did not have its onset during military service or is otherwise related to such service, and therefore denied his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's death was not due to a service-connected disability that had been rated totally disabling for at least eight years prior to his death. Therefore, the appellant is not entitled to increased DIC benefits.