Other conditions decisions — 2020

The Veteran's claim for service connection for breast cancer is remanded due to insufficient dose estimate provided by the U.S. Army Dosimetry Center and a revised dose estimate is needed based on available methodologies.

The Board has determined that the validity of the debt amount due to concurrent receipt of military service pay from September 1, 2014 to July 31, 2016 needs to be reviewed and corrected. The Veteran is required to provide evidence supporting her claim.

The Board denied service connection for benign prostatic hypertrophy, a skin disorder, and a disability manifested by slurred speech.,There is no evidence of any current conditions related to the Veteran's military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) services, other than employment services, to include funding of living expenses and basic housing allowance during medical school and medical residency and equipment for medical residency. The evidence did not meet the requirements for VR&E benefits as the Veteran was deemed employable based on his possession of a B.S. in psychology.

The Board found that the overpayment of $7,704.00 in VA pension benefits was properly created due to the Veteran's unreported income from Social Security Administration (SSA) and a change in marital status. The appeal for waiver of recovery is remanded as the AOJ needs to determine if repayment would result in undue hardship.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to the need for additional development, including a new VA examination to clarify the Veteran's range of motion and pain levels in his right shoulder.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for HIV, finding that there is no evidence linking his current diagnosis to his active duty service. The Veteran claimed military sexual assault as a cause of his HIV, but the Board found his accounts inconsistent and not credible.

The Board has remanded the case due to an incomplete VA examination report and a need for further medical opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed MRSA residuals.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate analysis of the Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service repetitive activities involving his elbows, specifically pull-ups. The VA medical opinion did not comply with the remand directives.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate rationale in assessing functional limitations due to flare-ups, and the need for an adequate retrospective assessment of the severity of the Veteran's ulcerative colitis during flare-ups prior to September 26, 2015.

The Board has determined that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's cardiac disability, including idiopathic cardiomyopathy, atrial flutter, slow AV nodal re-entry, and supraventricular tachycardia, was caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus. Therefore, service connection for this condition as secondary to diabetes mellitus is granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to issues related to unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Doctor Medical Center from March 8, 2009, to March 9, 2009. The VA needs to reconstruct the Veteran's file and obtain relevant records for a determination on whether any of the services were rendered within a medical emergency context.

The Board has denied the appellant's claims for service connection due to a discharge from service under other than honorable conditions, finding that his misconduct was willful and persistent. The Board also found that his initial four days of honorable service were not relevant to the underlying issues.

The Veteran's service-connected varicose veins of the bilateral lower extremities have not been manifested by persistent edema, stasis pigmentation, eczema, or ulceration. As a result, his claims for increased ratings are denied.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 20 percent for his right shoulder bicipital tendon tear and labral tear, finding that there is no evidence of limitation of motion to a position midway between the side and shoulder level.

The Board is unsure if the Veteran served 'in-country' during his active duty service and needs further information to determine this. The case will be returned for review.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development and requires an additional VA examiner's opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's left eye visual disorder.

The Veteran's left lower extremity amputation is granted under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to carelessness and error in judgment on the part of VA.

The Board found that the overpayment debt for additional compensation benefits was properly created due to the Veteran's failure to promptly notify VA of her divorce from J.W.A., resulting in an overpayment. The appeal as to the propriety of the creation of the debt is denied.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his left eye disability is remanded due to the need for clarification regarding the specific type of visual field defect he has.