Weaver v. West

12 Vet. App. 229, 1999 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 333, 1999 WL 94685
CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
DecidedFebruary 25, 1999
DocketNo. 96-667
StatusPublished

This text of 12 Vet. App. 229 (Weaver v. West) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weaver v. West, 12 Vet. App. 229, 1999 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 333, 1999 WL 94685 (Cal. 1999).

Opinions

KRAMER, Judge, filed the opinion of the Court. HOLDAWAY, Judge, filed a dissenting opinion.

KRAMER, Judge:

The appellant, Frances D. Weaver, appeals an April 4, 1996, decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA or Board) that determined that there was no clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in August 1983 and November 1983 VA regional office (RO) decisions and consequently denied entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1318. Record (R.) at 9, 22. The appellant has filed a brief, and the Secretary has filed a motion for summary affirmance in lieu of a brief. This appeal is timely, and the Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §§ 7262(a) and 7266(a). For the reasons that follow, the Court will vacate the decision of the Board and remand the matter.

I. BACKGROUND

The appellant is the surviving spouse of veteran Tyre Weaver, Jr. (R. at 125), who served in the U.S. Army from January 1942 to May 1945 (R. at 26). While the veteran was on a bombing mission over Germany, his left arm was severely wounded and was subsequently amputated, and his right leg was also severely wounded. R. at 56. The veteran landed in enemy territory and was taken as a prisoner of war for fifteen months. R. [231]*231at 26, 56. After his discharge from service, the veteran was awarded service connection for a left arm amputation, a right leg injury, and anxiety, all with an April 1, 1946, effective date. R. at 31. At that time, his service-connected anxiety disorder was rated 10% disabling, and the combined rating for his service-connected disabilities was 90%. R. at 31. The appellant later filed a claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU), which was denied by the RO in a March 1980 decision. R. at 33. The appellant appealed that determination and, on December 2, 1982, the Board denied the veteran’s claim for a TDIU rating. R. at 41-49.

According to a December 22, 1982, medical report from Chester W. Jenkins, M.D., which was received by the RO on December 30, 1982, the veteran had related to the examiner that he had nightmares, sensations of being trapped and hopeless, and vivid recollections of his wartime experiences. R. at 51. The veteran had also stated that he had become unable to function in his job as a tax collector due to weakness and depression. R. at 51. The doctor further noted that the veteran had described “considerable withdrawal from social contact” and that he had claimed that being around people caused him discomfort that prevented him from functioning. R. at 52. Dr. Jenkins’ impression was “[pjsychotic [depression,” and he opined the following: “Mr. Weaver does indeed seem to suffer from an incapacitating psychiatric illness. In view of the cronology [sic] of symptoms . described by him and confirmed by his wife, there [sic] genesis during his military service seems entirely likely.” R. at 52 (emphasis added). In response to that report, the RO, in January 1983, sent a letter to the veteran indicating that the RO was processing his claim for an increased disability rating for his service-connected nervous condition and stating that a period of hospitalization was necessary in order to properly rate that condition. R. at 54.

In April 1983, the RO received correspondence from the veteran’s Congressman, stating that the veteran was seeking a TDIU rating. R. at 56. On May 31, 1983, the veteran was admitted to a VA medical center (VAMC) for treatment of a nervous condition and depression. R. at 63. During the period of hospitalization that followed, the veteran notified the RO that he was being treated at the VAMC. R. at 61. According to the discharge summary report, dated July 11, 1983, the veteran had been diagnosed with dys-thymic disorder and the examiner had concluded: “In view of [the veteran’s] deterioration of mental status ... during the latter part of his tenure as a tax collector[,] worsening of his depression, periods of hostility, anger, poor impulse control, helplessness, chronic insomnia, nightmares, [and] vague paranoid ideations [the] veteran is unemployable and disability is moderate to severe.” R. at 63, 65 (emphasis added). Taking into consideration Dr. Jenkins’ report and the records from the appellant’s period of hospitalization, the RO, in August 1983, awarded the veteran a 50% disability rating for his mental condition, classified as dys-thymic disorder, and assigned a December 30, 1982, effective date (the date the RO had received Dr. Jenkins’ medical report). R. at 67-68. The veteran’s combined disability rating remained 90%. R. at 68.

The veteran, in September 1983, submitted a statement in support of claim, again requesting a TDIU rating and stating that, since 1978, the RO had failed to address his claim for TDIU. R. at 72. The veteran also inquired as to why he had not received “para[graph] 29 benefits” for his period of hospitalization in 1983. R. at 72; see 38 C.F.R. § 4.29 (1998). The RO then requested and received the clinical records from the veteran’s 1983 period of hospitalization. R. at 74-96, 103. Based on those records, the RO, in a November 1983 decision, increased to 70% the veteran’s disability rating for dysthymic disorder. R. at 105-06. As a result, the veteran’s combined disability rating was increased to 100%, with an August 1, 1983, effective date. R. at 106. The veteran was also awarded a temporary total disability rating for the period of time that he was hospitalized, effective from May 31, 1983, to August 1, 1983. R. at 106. The veteran did not appeal the decision;» and it thus became final.

[232]*232On February 20, 1993, the veteran died as the result of a hepatocellular carcinoma (R. at 125), and the appellant, in March 1993, filed a claim for DIC. R. at 118-21. The RO, in an April 1993 decision, determined that the veteran’s cause of death was not service connected and denied her claim for DIC. R. at 127-28. The appellant filed a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) (R. at 139, 141-42); a Statement of the Case (SOC) and a Supplemental SOC were issued (R. at 160, 166); and the appellant submitted a substantive appeal (R. at 170). The appellant argued that the effective date for the veteran’s 100% disability rating should have been in January 1983, rather than August 1983. R. at 170. Specifically, the appellant argued that there had been CUE in the November 1983 RO decision with regard to the assignment of an effective date. R. at 186. A subsequent RO decision determined that there had not been CUE in the August 1983 and November 1983 RO decisions. R. at 191. In response, the appellant submitted an NOD (R. at 197), and the RO issued a Supplemental SOC (R. at 202).

In the April 4, 1996, BVA decision here on appeal, the Board noted that the effective date for an award of an increased disability rating, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 5110(a) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(o)(2), is the earliest date that it is factually ascertainable that an increase in disability occurred, if the claim is received within one year from that date. R. at 20.

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Bluebook (online)
12 Vet. App. 229, 1999 U.S. Vet. App. LEXIS 333, 1999 WL 94685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weaver-v-west-cavc-1999.