Other conditions decisions — 2019

The Veteran's pancreatic cancer, which caused his death, is presumed to be related to his in-service exposure to Agent Orange. The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death based on this presumption.

The Veteran's post-operative inguinal hernia has not been recurrent at any time during the relevant rating period, and therefore his claim for a higher disability rating is denied.

The Board has restored a 30% rating for paroxysmal auricular tachycardia, which was previously reduced to 10%. The Veteran is currently receiving the maximum schedular rating under the applicable diagnostic code.

The Veteran's death was not service connected, and the appellant did not provide evidence of a pending claim for compensation or pension benefits. The appeal is denied as there are no legal grounds to grant burial benefits.

The Board has denied service connection for a bilateral ankle condition and has remanded the issue of service connection for a bilateral wrist condition.

The Veteran's death was not service connected, and the appellant did not provide evidence of a pending claim for compensation or pension benefits. The appeal is denied as there are no legal grounds to award burial benefits.

The appellant requested to withdraw his appeal regarding the character of discharge, and as a result, the Board dismissed the case.

The Board denied service connection for vocal cord disorder, finding that the evidence does not support a current disability and that any pre-existing condition did not worsen during service.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the current severity of the Veteran's right hip disability. The Veteran needs a new VA examination to assess his condition.

The Veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, but the cause of death (metastatic pancreatic carcinoma) is not service-connected. The Board has remanded for a medical opinion on whether exposure to Agent Orange during service may have contributed to the Veteran's cancer.

The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Boca Raton Regional Hospital on May 6, 2014 was denied because the claim was not filed within 90 days after discharge from the facility.

The Veteran's VA benefits were terminated due to a warrant for his arrest. The Board denied reinstatement of benefits prior to April 19, 2017 as the Veteran did not provide evidence disputing the validity of the warrant.

The Board found that the appellant's discharge from service was honorable and not due to refusal of military duty, wearing uniform, or compliance with lawful orders. Therefore, it is not a bar to receiving VA benefits.

The Veteran's right foot and leg problems, nerve damage to the right leg, involuntary shaking of the right leg, severe pain in the right leg, and a right foot drag are not considered to be caused by his May 2009 cervical decompressive laminectomy at the Ann Arbor VAMC. The Board finds that these issues do not fall under the scope of service connection for VA medical treatment.

The Board found that the appellant was insane at the time of committing offenses leading to his undesirable discharge, and therefore, the character of his discharge is not a bar to VA benefits.

The Veteran's left elbow disability was rated at 10 percent from March 6, 2008 to January 10, 2017. The appeal is denied as the condition more closely approximates a 10 percent rating.

The Board has decided that the Veteran may be entitled to service connection for multiple myeloma due to herbicide exposure, but needs more information about his exact dates of service and whether he was within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of Vietnam. The case is being sent back (remanded) for further development.

The Board has vacated its June 2018 decision denying an initial compensable rating for fibroids with menometrorrhagia and remanded the case to consider new evidence and provide a VA examination.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine, status post multilevel fusion with spondylolisthesis, L5-S1 was denied. The claim for compensation for surgical scars associated with the same condition also failed to meet the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for male infertility disability and subfertility due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, finding no current disability associated with infertility.