Other conditions Board decisions

The Board has remanded the case to the RO/AMC for further development and adjudicative action, including addressing the veteran's CUE claim concerning an August 1959 rating decision.

The VA determined that the appellant's deceased husband did not have service in the United States Armed Forces, thus denying her claim for basic eligibility for death benefits.

The Board denied the appellant's application to reopen her claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that new and material evidence had not been submitted.

The veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at a private hospital is denied as the veteran did not receive treatment from VA within the 24-month period preceding the furnishing of emergency care.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete service medical records and the need for a VA examination to determine if the veteran's gastrointestinal disability is related to his military service or his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The veteran withdrew his appeal for the issues of service connection for status post herniorrhaphy and for a rupture during an October 2007 hearing. The remaining claims will be addressed in the REMAND below.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to assess the severity of the veteran's service-connected right forearm injury and its functional impairment. The claim will be reconsidered based on all evidence received since the August 2004 Board decision.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the inability of the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to locate his service medical records. The case will be returned for further development and readjudication.

The Board has determined that the veteran's emergency medical treatment provided by St. Francis Hospital on September 7, 2005 was for a condition of such nature that a prudent layperson would have reasonably expected delay in seeking immediate medical attention to be hazardous to life or health and that VA facilities were not feasibly available.

The Board found that there is no competent medical evidence establishing that vitiligo had its onset in, or is etiologically related to, active service. Therefore, the claim for service connection for vitiligo was denied.

The Board has determined that the appellant's peripheral vascular disease is proximately due to or the result of his service-connected hypertension, and thus grants service connection for this condition on a secondary basis.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of the veteran's cardiovascular and respiratory disabilities, as well as their impact on his ability to work.

The Board has determined that the veteran's facial nerve injury and impotence are related to VA medical treatment, meeting the criteria for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.

The Board has granted the appellant an extension of her delimiting date for educational assistance benefits under Chapter 35, Title 38, United States Code, in the amount of 24 months beyond January 28, 2008. The decision is based on severe hardships and emotional toll experienced by the appellant due to the sudden death of her husband and the birth of her child.

The Board has ordered the case to be remanded for further development, including an examination and medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of any chronic dental disorders, to include loss of teeth. The veteran is required to report for this examination.

The veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized private medical treatment on December 6, 2002 was denied as he had coverage under a health-plan contract with his spouse's insurance provider.

The VA has granted a 40 percent disability rating for the veteran's peripheral vascular disease of the left lower extremity as of April 6, 2007.

The Board denied service connection for a sinus disorder, finding that there is no current diagnosis of chronic sinusitis and the evidence does not support a finding of secondary service connection.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected right knee instability and degenerative arthritis, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on severe recurrent subluxation or lateral instability of the knee, nor did it show compensable limitation of motion in the knee joint.

The VA determined that the veteran's reactive airway disease does not warrant an increase in disability rating beyond the current 10% evaluation.