Parkinson's disease decisions — 2020

The Veteran's Parkinson's disease, bilateral hearing loss, back disability, dementia, PTSD, and degenerative lumbar spine condition are all granted as service-connected due to in-service exposure to Agent Orange.

The Board has determined that there is insufficient evidence to establish service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remands the case for further development.

The Board has granted service connection for Parkinson’s Disease, also claimed as essential tremor and dystonia, due to exposure to Agent Orange during service in the territorial waters of Vietnam.

The Veteran's asthma is being remanded for a new examination to obtain the required DLC test results.,Service connection for COPD, allergic rhinitis, and GERD are all being remanded due to insufficient rationale in the previous opinions.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to his death.

The Board denied additional attorney fees based on past-due benefits from a March 2019 rating decision and a February 2020 retroactive compensation adjustment, as the appellant did not appeal the initial fee decision.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death and denied entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318, finding that there was no evidence supporting exposure to Agent Orange in Germany and thus no basis for service connection based on such exposure.

The Veteran's Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's disease are not etiologically related to service. The Veteran does not meet the criteria for entitlement to SMC based on aid and attendance or housebound status.

The Veteran's Parkinson's disease, a service-connected condition, necessitated the need for regular aid and attendance of another person. The Board found that the evidence was in equipoise on whether the Veteran required such assistance due to his disability.

The Board has vacated its August 14, 2020 decision remanding the service connection for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and dismissed the issue as there was no case or controversy requiring adjudication.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's sleep apnea and his service-connected Parkinson’s disease. The Veteran must be provided with another VA examination to address this issue.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for Parkinson's disease was granted with an effective date of December 17, 2017.

The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and Parkinson's disease due to exposure to Agent Orange while on temporary duty (TDY) orders in Korea in 1970, finding that the Veteran was exposed near the DMZ.

The Board denied service connection for upper extremities tremulous disorder and lower extremities neurological disorders due to presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam. The Veteran's claims were not supported by current evidence of these conditions.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for an earlier effective date for DIC benefits and entitlement to accrued benefits, finding that there was no evidence of a formal or informal claim within one year following the Veteran's death.

The Board has granted the Veteran's service connection claim for Parkinson's disease as secondary to herbicide exposure, finding that his active duty service aboard ships in Vietnam qualifies him for presumptive service connection.

The Veteran's Parkinson's disease was not present in service or shown to be causally related to any injury, disease, or exposure during service. As the Veteran did not serve in Vietnam and there is no evidence of herbicide exposure, his claim for service connection based on herbicide exposure is denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to uncertainty regarding the appellant's period of residence at Camp Lejeune and her reported miscarriage in 1967. The VA will need to verify these details before a decision can be made.

The Board has granted service connection for Parkinson's disease, finding that the Veteran was exposed to Agent Orange during his military service in Vietnam and that he meets the criteria for presumptive service connection.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient nexus opinions regarding the Veteran's Parkinson's disease and whether it is related to his service, particularly in the Persian Gulf. The Veteran will need a VA examination to determine if his Parkinson's disease is related to his service.