Epilepsy & seizure disorders decisions — 2023

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bipolar disorder and seizure disability due to inadequate medical opinions. The Veteran's bipolar disorder may be related to her in-service military sexual trauma, but the examiner needs to clarify whether it is caused by or aggravated by PTSD. For the seizure disability, the examiner should determine if it was caused by a physical trauma during service.

The Board has granted the Veteran's request to reopen his claim for service connection for seizures and remanded the issues of service connection for TBI and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The claims are inextricably intertwined with the reopened seizures claim.

The Veteran is granted a 70 percent disability rating for major depressive disorder and cognitive disorder effective December 8, 2008. The Board found that his symptoms warranted this level of disability as of December 6, 2006.

The Veteran has withdrawn all his appeals regarding the service connection claims for epilepsy, vision condition, migraine headaches, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, lung cancer, right hip disability, neck disability, and back disability.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU have been remanded due to the need for additional retrospective medical opinions regarding his service-connected depression and seizure disorder.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations and opinions.

The Board has found that there has not been substantial compliance with the March 2023 remand directives and has therefore ordered new VA examinations for the Veteran's claims of service connection for epilepsy, non-epilepsy seizure, respiratory disorder, and acquired psychiatric disorders.

The Board has withdrawn the claim for left knee injury and granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. The remaining issues have been remanded due to outstanding records and need for further examination.

The Board has remanded the case due to a need for clarification on whether a reasonable healthcare provider would have reasonably foreseen the risk of an air embolus resulting in cerebrovascular accident and generalized tonic-clonic seizure following the Veteran's June 2011 bronchoscopy with biopsy.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives and a need for additional medical opinions.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded to determine if he meets the criteria for special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, chronic migraines, traumatic brain injury, irritable bowel syndrome, and others.

The Veteran's initial compensable disability rating for migraine headaches was denied, and his claim for service connection for pseudo-seizures was also denied.,There is no evidence of a current pseudo-seizures disability during the pendency of the claim. The Board found that the Veteran does not have a pseudo-seizures disability that had onset during or is otherwise etiologically related to active service.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, GERD, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and tremors has been granted. The effective date for the grant of service connection for PTSD is set at May 4, 2012. A TDIU due solely to PTSD was granted as of May 1, 2022. Service connection for other conditions remains pending.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's claims of service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, asthma, an acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD), epilepsy, and a neck disability due to his withdrawal at the July 2023 hearing. The Veteran's asthma was found to have existed prior to service and not aggravated by service.

The Board has determined that more development is necessary before final adjudication of the claims on appeal, including scheduling VA examinations for the Veteran's service-connected major depressive disorder and her claimed low back, bilateral hip, right knee, and seizure disorders.