Other conditions Board decisions

The VA denied an increased evaluation for calcific granuloma of the right lung, finding no current active infection or disease.

The Board has granted service connection for mycosis fungoides effective from June 5, 1989. The veteran's claim was reopened based on new evidence submitted after the original denial in December 1980.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) found that the appellant knowingly allowed her VA benefits check to be altered for fraudulent purposes and participated in its encashment, leading to forfeiture of all rights, claims, and benefits under laws administered by VA.

The veteran's claim for service connection for periodontal disease is denied as compensation benefits are not available under VA laws and regulations.

The Board has granted a 10 percent rating for the veteran's service-connected residuals of a fracture of the right fourth metacarpal, effective from August 1, 2001. The appeal regarding propriety of reduction to noncompensable was also granted.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for left varicocele, status post varicocelectomy. The evidence supports a finding that his pre-existing condition worsened during active service.

The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability and denied the claim.

The Board has determined that the veteran's chronic diarrhea is proximately due to or the result of his service-connected PTSD and other psychiatric disorders, as well as poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the claim for service connection for chronic diarrhea is granted.

The Board found that the veteran's well-healed service-connected scar from the excision of a ganglion cyst has not resulted in limitation of function of the wrist or fingers, but he complained of numbness and discomfort. The Board granted an initial noncompensable disability evaluation for residuals of a right hand ganglion cyst excision.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied as he failed to report for VA examinations scheduled in accordance with Board remands.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for service connection for inguinal hernia and cryptorchidism, finding that new evidence was not submitted to reopen the previously denied claims.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to incomplete medical records and need for further evaluation of the veteran's conditions, including his exposure during Operation CROSSROADS.

The Board denied an initial compensable evaluation for the service-connected residuals of bilateral epididymitis with secondary infertility and residual epididymal thickening, finding no basis to assign a compensable rating.

The VA denied an increased evaluation for meralgia paresthetica, right lateral cutaneous nerve, currently rated as 30 percent disabling.

The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for residuals of rheumatic fever is denied as the evidence does not support a compensable rating under any applicable diagnostic code.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim, allowing for a de novo review of the character of discharge. The appellant's bad conduct discharge was upgraded to under honorable conditions by an Army Discharge Review Board, setting aside his previous bad conduct discharge. Therefore, his character of discharge is not a bar to receiving VA benefits.

The Board has determined that the veteran's failure to promptly notify VA of his receipt of Social Security benefits was the sole cause of an overpayment in improved disability pension benefits. The Board found that the veteran had not demonstrated fraud, willful misrepresentation, or bad faith in creating the debt and concluded that recovery would be against equity and good conscience due to the appellant's inability to repay the indebtedness without subjecting him and his spouse to undue economic hardship.

The veteran's service-connected right upper extremity and lower extremity disabilities, as well as his expressive aphasia, are rated at their maximum levels. The veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.,The veteran's homonymous hemianopsia does not result in either a visual field deficit or a visual impairment.

The Board found that the veteran's personality disorder is not a disability for which service connection can be granted, and an acquired psychiatric disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and found that the appellant was not eligible for dependents' educational assistance (DEA) under Chapter 35, Title 38, United States Code.