Peripheral neuropathy decisions — 2008

The Board has determined that the veteran's low back disability, malaria, amoebic dysentery, and peripheral neuropathy are not service-connected.

The Board has granted an initial disability rating of 20 percent for peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, effective January 1, 2004.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have chloracne or peripheral neuropathy, and thus cannot establish service connection for these conditions.

The veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his death. The issues of rating the service-connected conditions have not been decided.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the severity of the veteran's service-connected conditions.

The Board finds that the veteran's peripheral neuropathy is unrelated to his military service and may not be presumed to have been incurred therein. The claim for service connection for this condition is denied.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for further examination and opinion regarding whether his peripheral neuropathy, erectile dysfunction, and hypertension are caused or aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.

The Board has determined that the veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the feet, headaches, and degenerative cervical spine disease are not related to service. The claim for service connection is denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for alcoholism as secondary to PTSD, left hand ulnar neuropathy, tinea pedis (claimed as jungle rot of the feet), and jungle rot of the right hand. The evidence did not establish a current disability or a nexus between these conditions and service.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of March 1, 2004 for a grant of Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). The decision found that it was not factually ascertainable prior to March 1, 2004 that the veteran was unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment due to service-connected disabilities.

The Board found that the veteran's service-connected conditions did not cause his death, and there was no evidence to support a claim under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for VA treatment resulting in his death.

The veteran's appeal for service connection for peripheral neuropathy, claimed as due to herbicide exposure, has been dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.

The Board found that the veteran's bilateral peripheral neuropathy, bilateral peripheral vascular disease, and mild right peroneal nerve palsy with foot drop are not caused or aggravated by service or a service-connected disability.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral vascular disease, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction. The conditions are not found to be related to his active service or directly caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from securing and following some type of substantially gainful employment, thus the claim for TDIU is denied.