Skin conditions (dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis) decisions — 2023

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD, psoriasis, a status post colon removal condition, and diabetes mellitus. The appellant's preexisting personality disorder was not aggravated by service.

The Board has granted service connection for right foot eczema, tinea pedis, and tinea unguium as well as bilateral tinea pedis and tinea unguium. The decision is based on the Veteran's credible testimony of symptoms during active duty.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU was denied as he had full-time employment until March 2016, and his service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for DEA benefits was also denied because the award of a TDIU precluded such eligibility.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected.,The Veteran's arthritis of the neck and ankylosing spondylitis are both found to be secondary to his service-connected psoriasis.

The Board has granted service connection for headaches, atopic dermatitis, and tinnitus. The Veteran's claims of bilateral hearing loss were denied as she does not meet the regulatory threshold for hearing loss under VA criteria.

The Veteran's skin cancer and other skin conditions are not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking them to his military service.,Service connection for sleep apnea is denied as there is no medical evidence showing it was incurred or aggravated by service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for left wrist scar and eczema are being remanded due to the need for a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) with respect to additional medical evidence.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's left shoulder disability and the severity of his pseudofolliculitis barbae residuals.

The Board has dismissed all claims as the Veteran withdrew their appeal by requesting a Higher-Level Review and opting all claims from the April 10, 2020 decision into the Appeals Modernization Act.

Service connection for PFB is granted.,The claim of service connection for GERD is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's pseudofolliculitis barbae is related to his service and grants the claim for service connection.

The Veteran has withdrawn all of his pending claims and appeals, including those related to bronchitis, dermatitis, tremors, chronic fatigue syndrome, right knee strain, low back strain, multiple scars on the left side of body, sinusitis with headaches, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity sciatic nerve, left shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis with degenerative arthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome.

The Board has denied service connection for fibromyalgia and remanded the issue of a compensable disability rating for dermatitis.

The Board has remanded the case due to issues with obtaining private medical records and for a new VA opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's skin condition.

The Veteran's service-connected PFB with neck scarring is characterized by a skin condition covering less than 5 percent of the entire body and less than 5 percent of the exposed areas affected, and involves only treatment with topical, non-systemic therapy. The Board denied an initial compensable rating for this condition.

The Board has granted service connection for tinea cruris and tinea unguium, finding that the Veteran's skin rashes began during active service. Service connection was denied for an abdominal or stomach disability due to lack of current evidence demonstrating a functional impairment affecting earning capacity.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The decision does not specify the exact reasons, but it appears that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating or service connection.,The Board found no evidence of complete atrophy of both testicles in the case of epididymitis, which resulted in denial of an initial compensable rating. For GERD, there was only one symptom (pyrosis) and no need for continuous medication. Dermatitis required near-constant use of systemic therapy but did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 7806. The Veteran's sleep disorder claim was denied as his symptoms were subsumed in his service-connected psychiatric disability, and there is no separate diagnosis of sleep apnea or left shoulder disability.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU are being remanded due to inadequate examination reports. The examinations did not address all the relevant conditions or provide sufficient rationale for their conclusions.

The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for PFB, cervical spine disability, and right hip disabilities have been denied. The Board found that the current noncompensable rating for PFB is appropriate due to its mild nature. For the cervical spine, there was no evidence of ankylosis or incapacitating episodes of IVDS. For the right hip, the medical evidence did not support a higher rating based on limitation of motion.

The Board has decided to remand several issues related to the Veteran's claims, including those for right wrist laceration residuals, back disability, pseudofolliculitis barbe hyperpigmentation residuals, diabetes, sleep apnea, and a right hand injury. The decision also mentions that VA should attempt to obtain Social Security Administration records relevant to the Veteran's claim.