Other conditions decisions — 2019

The Board has determined that the Veteran's TMJ is related to service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a cerebral infarction, finding that there was no causal relationship between his current condition and his time in service or to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.

The Veteran's overpayment of $15,177.04 was waived because the VA failed to promptly address his divorce and removal from dependents' benefits for eight years, causing an excessive overpayment.

The Board denied service connection for pseudogout, finding that there is no medical evidence to support a link between the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability and his current pseudogout condition.

The Veteran's death was due to multiorgan failure, with underlying causes of acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. The Board found no service connection for any disability at the time of his death, and there is insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between his cardiovascular diseases and service.

The VA denied the appellant's application for DEA education benefits because she had already used a combined total of 48 months of education benefits under Chapter 33 and the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB). The Board must calculate the amount of combined entitlement used to determine whether the Appellant had already used her 48 months. However, the evidence of record is not sufficient to do that.

The Board denied the Veteran's request to waive recovery of an overpayment of VA compensation benefits, finding that recovery would not be against equity and good conscience due to lack of undue hardship and no evidence that recovery would defeat the purpose for which the benefits were intended.

The appeal has been dismissed due to the death of the Appellant.

The Veteran's surviving spouse was owed retroactive pension benefits at the time of her death, and the appellant is entitled to $83.85 in reimbursement for expenses related to her burial.

The Veteran's overpayment of Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits is waived due to undue financial hardship, as recovery would deprive him and his family of basic necessities.

The Veteran's service is not considered during a period of war, thus he does not meet the requirement for nonservice-connected pension benefits.

The Veteran's irrevocable election for education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill program in lieu of benefits under REAP was not properly completed, and he can revoke it. The appeal is granted.

The Board has granted special monthly pension for a surviving spouse based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person. The propriety of termination nonservice-connected death pension benefits is remanded.

The Board has decided to remand the cases for further action due to issues related to income verification and overpayment of non-service-connected disability pension benefits. The Veteran's spouse’s income from June 1, 2010 through May 31, 2015 was included in calculating his pension benefits, which he disputes. Additionally, there is a dispute regarding the creation of an overpayment of $27,370.00 and whether the Veteran should be granted a waiver to recover this amount.

The Board denied increased ratings for left and right foot residuals of cold weather injury, finding that the maximum schedular rating (30%) was appropriate. The case is remanded for a proctology examination to assess hemorrhoids.

The Veteran's claim for 'kicker' payments under the Post-9/11 GI Bill is being remanded due to an unavailable education file. The AOJ will attempt to obtain and associate these records with his claims file, notify him of any unobtainable records, and then consider whether further adjudication of the claim is warranted.

The Veteran's claim for earlier effective date of dependency compensation was denied as the earliest possible effective date is September 25, 2013.

The Veteran's cause of death, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, was not caused by or related to his military service.

The Veteran's collapsed lung and gash in the esophagus were not service-connected, as there was no evidence of a pre-existing condition or direct causation.

The Veteran requested to withdraw his appeal for the issue of entitlement to TDIU due to service-connected disabilities prior to April 6, 2017.