Other conditions Board decisions

The Board denied service connection for disorders of the feet due to the veteran's failure to report for a VA examination and lack of evidence linking current foot disabilities to service.

The Board denied the veteran's request for a waiver of recovery of an overpayment in the amount of $10,394 of his improved pension benefits due to bad faith.

The veteran is seeking an increased disability rating for his service-connected Reiter's syndrome. The Board has remanded the case to allow for additional development and consideration of all relevant evidence.

The VA has denied the veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized private hospitalization at Samaritan Hospital due to lack of coverage under a health-care contract and failure to meet all criteria for reimbursement.

The veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of aid and attendance at the R-2 rate of care was dismissed as he withdrew his substantive appeal in May 2003.

The veteran's service-connected gastrointestinal disorder, manifested by duodenal ulcer, is currently rated at 40 percent and the Board has determined that an evaluation in excess of this rating is not warranted.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to a recent court ruling invalidating a regulation that allowed the Board to consider new evidence without first sending it back to the RO.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining medical records and requesting an opinion from a VA examiner regarding the etiology of the veteran's panic disorder with agoraphobia. The veteran will be provided another opportunity to respond after any additional evidence is considered.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected right and left foot disabilities do not warrant a higher rating as they are currently evaluated at 20 percent.

The VA determined that the veteran's service-connected postoperative residuals of a thoracotomy, status post resection of a pseudo-aneurysm do not warrant an increased rating beyond the current 20 percent assigned.

The Board has granted the veteran's claim for restoration of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability (TDIU) for the period from January 1, 1990, to April 7, 2000.

The Board has determined that there is additional development of the case, as set forth below, that must be accomplished prior to review by the RO.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased rating above 40 percent for urticaria on an extraschedular basis, maintaining a current 40 percent schedular rating.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for ptosis of the left eye with mild visual field deficit, finding that the current disability picture did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection of residuals of a skull fracture, finding no evidence that the condition was incurred or aggravated during his military service.

The Board dismissed the appeal due to the Director's declaration of forfeiture against the appellant, which rendered moot the original issue of service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board has granted a 10 percent evaluation for each of the veteran's left and right tibial periostitis/shin splints, based on the presence of pain on use.

The Board found that the veteran's current bicipital tendonitis and degenerative changes of the right shoulder are not proximately due to or the result of his service-connected residuals of excision of fatty tumor, right shoulder. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in service.

The Board denied an increased rating for the veteran's residuals of a fracture of the L-1 vertebra, currently rated as 20 percent disabling.

The veteran's left foot compression callus is rated at 10 percent disabling, as it does not cover more than 20% of the entire body or exposed areas and does not require systemic therapy such as corticosteroids for six weeks or more during the past 12-month period.