Other conditions decisions — 2018

The Veteran's surviving spouse claim is denied because the Appellant remarried after the Veteran's death and remains married to her second spouse.

The Board found that recovery of the overpayment would be against equity and good conscience due to the Veteran's untimely response, causing undue financial hardship and defeating the purpose for which the benefits were intended. The Veteran is at fault for creating the debt but there is no unjust enrichment or bad faith on his part.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a skin disorder as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus due to lack of medical evidence supporting a causal relationship between the two conditions.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there was no evidence of ischemic heart disease at the time of his death and that it did not manifest to a compensable degree within one year following discharge from service. The Board also found that the Veteran’s death was not caused by herbicide exposure in Vietnam.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded to assess the current severity of his service-connected left upper extremity muscle disability, including the impact of a ruptured biceps tendon and its relation to numbness in his forearm and hand.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient information regarding the Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during service. The Appellant is seeking service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, but further development is needed to verify the alleged exposure.

The Veteran's claim for reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses is remanded due to the lack of documentation regarding communication with VA on December 25, 2010.

The Veteran requested withdrawal of the appeal for entitlement to special monthly pension, and the Board has dismissed the case as a result.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for chronic lymphocytic leukemia with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is denied as there was no pending claim or final decision to revise.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examination reports and a need for new examinations to determine the current nature and severity of the Veteran's back disability.

The Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are evaluated at a 10 percent rating each, based on noncompensable limitation of motion due to arthritis. The appeal is denied as the disability does not meet criteria for higher ratings.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's claims for service connection. The issues of service connection for Dupuytren’s Disease/Dupuytren’s Contracture and Diverticulitis are being reviewed.

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his ischemic dementia and cerebral vascular disease were not caused by or related to his service-connected arteriosclerotic heart disease.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment of VRAP benefits due to a material misrepresentation in his enrollment status, as he continued to accept benefits after being informed that his full-time enrollment had ended.

The Board denied reopening and granting service connection for tendonitis of the left leg as new evidence was not received that would raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Veteran's quadriplegia is found to be a result of the VA treatment during his cervical spine surgery, and the Board grants compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151.

The appellant's service in the Chinese Nationalist Army of Taiwan does not qualify him for burial in a VA national cemetery as he was not a U.S. citizen at the time of his service.

The Veteran's service-connected left ear otitis media is rated at 10 percent, the maximum available under the rating schedule. The Board found that a higher rating was not warranted as his symptoms are already covered by the current schedular criteria.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for nerve conditions of his hands and arms due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions. The Veteran is also being asked to provide any private treatment records related to his arm conditions.

The Board denied service connection for residuals of an in-service concussion due to a lack of current residuals and insufficient evidence linking the current condition to the in-service injury.