Peripheral neuropathy decisions — 2013

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current diagnosis of right foot neuropathy is related to his active duty service, granting entitlement to service connection for a right foot disability.

The Veteran's diabetes mellitus is presumed to have been incurred in service due to his exposure to herbicides during service. His bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities is also presumed to be related to his diabetes mellitus, which was granted on a presumptive basis.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected disabilities and their impact on employment.

The Veteran's erectile dysfunction, bilateral upper and lower peripheral neuropathy, and depression are all found to be secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.

The Board finds that the cause of the Veteran's death, end stage liver disease, is not related to his service or any service-connected disability.

The Veteran's claim for a TDIU was denied as her service-connected disabilities do not meet the schedular criteria, and an extra-schedular rating is also not warranted.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for right hand disability has been withdrawn.

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The Veteran's diabetes mellitus and related complications have been granted service connection, but the Board has determined that an extraschedular rating for type I diabetes mellitus is not warranted. The ratings for cardiomyopathy are also denied. Separate compensable ratings for erectile dysfunction, hypertension, onychomycosis of the bilateral great toes (prior to October 23, 2008), and seborrhea with folliculitis have been denied.

The Veteran's left brachial plexus neuropathy has been rated at 20 percent since October 1995. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating prior to September 17, 2012 and denied an increased rating thereafter.

The Veteran's service connection claim for peripheral neuropathy of the feet is granted, as it is at least as likely as not related to his military service.

The Veteran's increased rating claim for post-operative residuals of L4-L5 and L5-S1 disk herniation was granted, with a 10 percent disability rating. The claims for sciatic/common peroneal neuropathy were also granted, with ratings of 20 percent for the right lower extremity and 40 percent for the left lower extremity.

The Board finds that the Veteran does not have separate disabilities of radiculopathy or peripheral neuropathy in either upper extremity, and therefore service connection is denied.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation prior to October 4, 2012.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are of sufficient severity to preclude him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment, warranting a TDIU.

The Veteran's service connection for pudendal neuropathy is granted with an effective date of March 31, 2008. His initial claim for prostatitis was denied in August 2008 and his current claim for pudendal neuropathy was not a separate claim but rather a recharacterization of the existing symptoms.

The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hand and finger disabilities, as well as his bilateral shoulder disabilities, did not originate during service or due to any incident of active service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including obtaining SSA records and VA/medical records. A VA examination will be scheduled to evaluate the status of his service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further proceedings due to the need for an updated VA examination and consideration of his service-connected disabilities in determining his employability.

The Veteran's appeal involves his claim for service connection for hypersomnia, which he contends is secondary to his service-connected degenerative disc disease and neuropathy of the lower extremities. The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain an opinion on whether his sleep disorder was aggravated by his service-connected disabilities.