Other conditions decisions — 2019

The Veteran's service did not qualify as active military, naval, or air service during a period of war for pension eligibility.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development and readjudication, including reconsidering the initial rating for porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) and determining appropriate effective dates for total disability based on individual unemployability and special monthly compensation.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to missing medical records, particularly from St. Charles Medical Center and Samaritan Albany General Hospital.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral pes cavus, finding that the preexisting condition was aggravated by military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for waiver of an overpayment of VRAP benefits, finding that the debt was valid and recovery would not be against equity and good conscience.

The Veteran's effective date for a 50% rating for residuals status post palatoplasty is granted as of October 3, 2013. The case is remanded to address whether there was clear and unmistakable error in the original April 26, 2005 rating decision.

The Board granted an increase in the apportionment amount to 20 percent of the Veteran's VA disability benefits for the appellant on behalf of her dependent children, M.S., A.S., and J.S. The decision was based on the appellant's financial hardship due to unemployment and lack of child support payments from the Veteran.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a neurological condition of the left upper extremity, finding that it is at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected left shoulder disability.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to incomplete VA examinations.

The Veteran's daughter is denied retroactive payments for Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits prior to May 19, 2015.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete records and a pending Navy application for an upgrade of the character of the appellant's discharge. The AOJ must obtain full copies of the appellant’s personnel file, service treatment records, including disciplinary records, and any pertinent documentation associated with the Navy's December 2018 application for an upgrade of his discharge.

The Veteran's right hand trigger finger disability is not considered to be due to VA care, and the Board finds that there was no fault on the part of VA in causing or worsening his condition.

The Veteran's service-connected Crohn's disease is rated at a total of 100 percent effective December 3, 2014. The rating is based on pronounced symptoms with numerous attacks per year and serious complications such as an intra-abdominal abscess.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his temporomandibular condition, which is currently rated at 10 percent, has been denied as the inter-incisal range of motion does not consistently meet or exceed the criteria for a higher rating.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic gastritis, previously claimed as ulcers, is being remanded due to the submission of new evidence that relates to the bases for the prior denial and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn by the appellant, and thus the case is dismissed.

The Board has dismissed the appeal because it was not properly transferred and is currently in process of being adjudicated by the AOJ.

The Board found that the overpayment of Chapter 33 educational benefits was not validly created due to a fraudulent school certification, and thus granted the Veteran's appeal.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether there was sustained improvement in the Veteran's vision impairment related to multiple sclerosis.

The Board has determined that the appellant's character of discharge is dishonorable and therefore a bar to VA benefits for her period of active service from August 6, 1980 to January 12, 1983.