Other conditions decisions — 2020

The Board has decided that a remand is necessary to obtain updated VA examination and treatment records, as well as to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected bilateral cataracts.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical evidence and a need for an addendum opinion regarding the Veteran's dental disorder. The issue of service connection for dental disorder is being returned to the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) for further development.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete development and procedural defects. The issues of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for joint pain, entitlement to hair loss, skin disorder, and STD are all being remanded.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for osteopenia was reopened and granted. The effective date of this grant is set at February 23, 2018.

The Veteran's attempt to receive VA health care within the 24 months prior to his emergency room visit on July 13, 2014 was unsuccessful. As a result, payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred at Sacred Heart Riverbend and Eugene Emergency in Eugene, Oregon is denied.

The Veteran's service connection claim for alopecia areata is remanded due to the need for a VA examination and opinion. The examiner must determine if the alopecia areata is related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.

The Veteran's levoscoliosis of the upper thoracic spine, originally diagnosed as mild scoliosis during service, had its onset while he was on active duty. The Board granted service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits due to his income exceeding the maximum annual pension rate (MAPR).

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to insufficient opportunities provided for obtaining medical releases from N.S.'s healthcare providers.

The Veteran's service-connected other specified trauma and stressor related disorder is being remanded for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of his condition, as well as its impact on his occupational and social functioning. The issues of rating assignment and reduction are also being remanded.

The Board has determined that the reduction from a 60 percent disability rating to a noncompensable rating for service-connected pleural plaques, effective June 1, 2017, was proper and restoration of the 60 percent rating is denied.

The appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for adenocarcinoma of the prostate is dismissed without prejudice due to the appellant's death.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for colon cancer and the Veteran's cause of death due to ionizing radiation exposure. The case is being returned to the Under Secretary for Health to obtain a new dosage estimate and opinion that addresses all of the Veteran’s contentions, including his reports of ingesting contaminated water at White Sands Missile Range.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for a leg disability, finding that it is not etiologically related to service and is not caused or made worse by his service-connected back pain.

The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient development and lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives. The issues include service connection for a prostate disorder, which may be related to service-connected hypertension and kidney failure, and service connection for a bladder disorder, which is inextricably intertwined with the prostate disorder.

The Board denied service connection for residuals of a prostatectomy, finding that the evidence did not support a link to military service and that it was more likely due to non-service-related factors.

The Board denied service connection for a skin disability, finding no probative medical evidence that the Veteran's presumed exposure to herbicides directly caused or is currently aggravating his basal cell carcinoma skin disability.

The Board has vacated the remand addressing DIC under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 and dismissed it as moot because the appellant was already receiving DIC benefits due to a grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral calcaneal spurs as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability. The evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the calcaneal spurs are related to his back condition.

The Board dismissed the appeal because the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal, and thus has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits.