Citation Nr: 18144312 Decision Date: 10/24/18 Archive Date: 10/24/18 DOCKET NO. 15-43 708 DATE: October 24, 2018 ORDER A clothing allowance for the year 2015 is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran consistently uses his VA-issued bilateral knee braces for his service-connected right and left knee patellofemoral syndrome that tend to wear or tear his clothing. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving all reasonable doubts in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for entitlement to a clothing allowance for the year 2015 due to the Veteran’s use of bilateral knee braces are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810(a) (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from October 1981 to October 2002. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2015 decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service in Nashville, Tennessee. In February 2017, the Veteran testified before the undersigned at a Board Central Office hearing. A transcript is of record. Entitlement to a clothing allowance for the year 2015 A veteran who has a service-connected disability is entitled to an annual clothing allowance upon meeting certain eligibility requirements. One way is if the veteran, because of a service-connected disability or disabilities, wears or uses a qualifying prosthetic or orthopedic appliance which tends to wear or tear clothing. 38 C.F.R. § 3.810(a)(1) (2017). The Veteran contends that a clothing allowance for the year 2015 is warranted for his use of bilateral knee braces due to his service-connected bilateral knee patellofemoral syndrome. See September 2015 Notice of Disagreement. Specifically, he has reported that his VA-issued bilateral knee braces “wore out . . . the pants” and were “very uncomfortable.” See February 2017 Hearing Tr. at 3. Evidence of record reflects that the Veteran has consistently been in receipt of clothing allowances for his use of bilateral knee braces in the years 2012, 2013, and 2014. See VETSNET Compensation and Pension Award Summary. Further, in his October 2015 substantive appeal (via VA Form 9), the Veteran wrote that his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities “get . . . wors[e] each year and not better,” suggesting that the nature of the use of his bilateral knee braces has remained unchanged from the prior years (i.e. in the years 2012, 2013, and 2014) when he received clothing allowances for the same bilateral knee braces. The Board has carefully reviewed the evidence of record and finds that the evidence supports the award of a clothing allowance for the year 2015 for the Veteran’s use of VA-issued bilateral knee braces. In this regard, the Veteran is competent to describe whether his orthopedic appliances cause wear, stretching, or tearing of his clothing, in as much as this is readily observable by a lay person. See Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331, 1337 (Fed. Cir. 2006). The Veteran has reported that “[w]hen [he] bend[s] [his] knees with the braces . . . when wearing bluejeans [sic] or slacks, [his] fabric at the knee of the bluejeans [sic] and slack do wear out” which has caused financial hardship. See October 2015 Form 9. Further, it appears from the record that VA has previously recognized that the use of his bilateral knee braces can wear or tear his clothing given that the Veteran received clothing allowances for the same bilateral knee braces from 2012 through 2014. When, after careful consideration of all procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding service origin, the degree of disability, or any other point, such doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. See also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App.49, 53-56 (1990). The Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise on the matter on appeal. Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that the criteria for an annual clothing allowance for 2015 for his use of bilateral knee braces for his service-connected bilateral knee patellofemoral syndrome are met. His appeal is granted. MICHAEL E. KILCOYNE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Kim, Associate Counsel