Other conditions decisions — 2020

The Veteran's spouse, the appellant, is denied recognition as his surviving spouse for purposes of establishing eligibility for VA death pension benefits due to not meeting the requirement of having been married to the Veteran for one year or more prior to his death.

The Veteran's cause of death was not related to his military service, and the Board denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of death.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for residuals of spinal meningitis is remanded due to the need for additional examinations and consideration of outstanding treatment records.

The Board has granted service connection for lymphoma, finding that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his active duty service in Korea.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature of his bilateral foot disorder and its relationship to service.

The Veteran's adenocarcinoma of the colon, metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the liver, and metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the bone and tumor in thoracic spine with paraplegia were not related to service or exposure to herbicides.,Service connection for loss of control of bowel and bladder function was denied as there is no evidence that these conditions are otherwise related to service or exposure to herbicides.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for mantle cell lymphoma, claimed as due to Agent Orange exposure, is being remanded because the VA did not appropriately investigate his reported exposure in Panama.

The Board has remanded the case due to concerns about the adequacy of a previous VA medical opinion and the need for additional evaluations.

The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate VA examination, requiring a new opinion on whether the Veteran's neck and scalp cysts are related to service exposure.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a rating in excess of 10 percent for left hip DJD and for TDIU due to insufficient examination findings. The Veteran is required to provide additional information regarding his employment status, and VA must obtain Social Security Administration records and treatment records from December 2018 onwards. A new VA examination will be conducted to assess the severity of his service-connected left hip disability.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a separate rating for neurologic abnormality of the left lower extremity and remanded the TDIU claim prior to September 11, 2017.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to issues related to scheduling a VA examination for the Veteran's pulmonary embolism. The Veteran needs to provide any outstanding treatment records and will be scheduled for an examination.

The Veteran's service-connected residuals of partial laryngectomy and hypogeusia were denied staged initial ratings.,For the period prior to June 17, 2019, the Veteran’s residuals of partial laryngectomy did not meet criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board denied service connection for right and left eye cataracts as there was no evidence of a current disability related to the Veteran's active military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a chronic right eye disorder, including strabismus amblyopia, esotropia, and high astigmatism, finding that his preexisting eye problems did not permanently increase in severity during military service.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, finding that there was no evidence linking his pancreatic cancer to his military service or exposure to herbicide agents.

The Board denied the appellant's request for an apportionment of the Veteran’s VA compensation benefits because the Veteran was providing support to the appellant and her expenses exceeded her income.

The Board has denied both the claim for service connection for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (left ear) and the request to increase the rating for carpometacarpal thumb arthritis of the right hand. The left ear disability is presumed to have existed prior to service, and there is no clear and unmistakable evidence that it was aggravated by service.

The Veteran's service does not meet the requirements for Post-9/11 GI Bill educational assistance benefits as she did not serve a minimum of 90 aggregate days of qualifying active duty and was discharged under other than dishonorable conditions due to a service-connected disability.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to an inadequate medical opinion regarding service connection for aortic aneurism disability. The Veteran's aortic aneurism disability is being reviewed again to determine if it was aggravated by his service-connected hiatal hernia.