Other conditions Board decisions

The Board found that the portion of an overpayment of pension benefits in the calculated amount of $220 attributable to the period from January 1999 through August 1999 was not properly created. The remaining portion, in the amount of $109, is waived due to equity and good conscience.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 10 percent evaluation of his service-connected coccyx disability was denied as there was no evidence showing the condition warranted such a rating prior to March 6, 2000.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for pilonidal cyst due to lack of evidence linking the condition to his military service.

The veteran's failure to notify the VA of his spouse's earned income resulted in an overpayment of improved disability pension benefits. The Board found that this was due to bad faith on the part of the veteran, and therefore denied waiver of recovery.

The veteran's claim for reimbursement or payment of medical expenses incurred on July 7, 2000 at Memorial Hospital West Volusia is being remanded due to the absence of certain records in the claims file.

The Board found that the veteran's erectile dysfunction was not caused by the VA-provided transurethral resections of the prostate in 1980, and thus denied compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.

The veteran's claim for reimbursement or payment of medical services received during his hospitalization at a non-VA facility is denied because the VA was feasibly available to treat him and he did not have prior authorization from appropriate VA personnel.

The Board has determined that a timely substantive appeal was not filed with respect to the issue of service connection for a nervous disorder, and thus the claim is dismissed.

The veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at Mease Dunedin Hospital from April 27, 1999 through April 30, 1999 is denied as the criteria for payment were not met.

The Board denied the veteran's request for waiver of recovery of an overpayment of improved disability pension benefits due to bad faith on his part in failing to report his spouse's receipt of regular Social Security benefits, which resulted in a loss to the government.

The Board determined that the appellant could not be recognized as a valid widow of the deceased veteran for purposes of entitlement to VA death benefits due to lack of continuous cohabitation following their divorce in 1984.

The veteran has withdrawn his appeal regarding the overpayment of nonservice-connected pension benefits, making the issue moot.

The veteran's organic mental disease, identified as Alzheimer's disease, is found to be aggravated by his service-connected hypertension.

The veteran's panic disorder with agoraphobia and undifferentiated somatoform disorder renders him demonstrably unable to obtain or retain employment, warranting a total evaluation. The effective date for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea is denied as it stems from a claim filed on April 12, 1999. The earlier effective date for the total evaluation based upon individual unemployability is also denied.

The Board found that the veteran's multiple myeloma was not incurred in or aggravated by service, nor is it related to her service-connected pernicious anemia. The issues of increased disability ratings for pernicious anemia and service connection for multiple myeloma were denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection of an ulcer disorder and a prior effective date for PTSD. The RO found that the veteran did not submit his claim within one year after separation from active duty, thus denying earlier effective dates.

The veteran's disabilities prevent him from successfully pursuing a vocational rehabilitation program and becoming gainfully employed in an occupation consistent with his abilities, aptitudes, and interests.

The veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 10 percent evaluation of his service-connected shell-fragment wound to the right lower extremity was denied by the Board, and he is not entitled to an earlier effective date than September 23, 1992.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating for status post bilateral orchiectomy due to carcinoma was denied as the earliest date on which it is factually ascertainable that his condition had increased in severity so as to meet the criteria for a 100 percent evaluation was October 19, 1998. The appeal must be denied.

The Board has granted service connection for C6 quadriplegia as secondary to the veteran's service-connected residuals of fracture of the transverse process of the L4 vertebra. The issue of entitlement to an increased rating in excess of 20 percent for his service-connected low back disability remains pending.