Tuberculosis decisions — 2008

The Board is remanding the claims for service connection for a low back disorder, respiratory disorder due to asbestos exposure, and left shoulder disability for further development.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a hearing before a member of the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

The Board has determined that the veteran's death was not caused by or a result of service-connected affective psychosis and/or pulmonary tuberculosis, and therefore, denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current pulmonary tuberculosis is related to his active service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for pulmonary tuberculosis, finding no evidence linking it to his active military service. The claims of reopening for malaria and ulcers were also denied as there was insufficient new and material evidence.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable evaluation for oral herpes simplex virus, and did not reopen his claims of service connection for exposure to tuberculosis with positive PPD skin test or hepatic idiosyncrasy related to INH prophylactic therapy due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Board has determined that the RO's April 27, 1948 rating decision denying service connection for PTB was based on CUE and is therefore reversed. As a result, the veteran is granted service connection for PTB.

The Board found that the RO's decision denying service connection for pulmonary tuberculosis was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous, as there was no evidence of diagnosis or treatment of tuberculosis during service and no contemporaneous X-rays confirming the condition within the three-year presumptive period.

The veteran is granted earlier effective dates of October 26, 1984 for the award of a 60 percent rating for service-connected pulmonary tuberculosis with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and for service connection for a thoracotomy scar.

The Board has ordered the RO to search for and obtain medical records from the veteran's treatment at Samson Naval Hospital and Leavenworth VAMC, as well as provide due process notice regarding previously service-connected conditions. The case is then remanded for further development.

The Board denied reopening the claim for service connection for cause of death due to lack of new and material evidence, including insufficient medical evidence linking the veteran's death to his service-connected epilepsy or to a diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis within the presumptive period.

The Board found that the veteran's claimed conditions of COPD, heart disease, PTB, and emphysema were not incurred or aggravated by service. The evidence did not show a nexus between these conditions and his military service.

The Board is considering whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death. The issue also includes determining if the veteran's service-connected tuberculosis contributed to his death in combination with his non-service-connected right lung cancer.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for PTB, claiming it as a chest condition. The decision found that new and material evidence had not been presented to reopen the claim.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for alcoholism, depression and mental disorder, and tuberculosis due to a lack of evidence supporting these conditions or their relationship to service.

The veteran's claims of service connection for peptic ulcer disease, bronchial asthma, pulmonary tuberculosis, peripheral neuropathy, osteoarthritis and avitaminosis are remanded due to the need for a statement of the case.

The Board found that the submitted evidence was not new and material, thus denying the reopening of the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for a compensable rating for his pulmonary tuberculosis, as it is inactive and related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which developed from smoking.

The Board denied the claim for service connection for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and pulmonary tuberculosis as the evidence did not show these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Board denied the appellant's request to reopen her claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that no new and material evidence had been presented.