Citation Nr: 18151688
Decision Date: 11/20/18	Archive Date: 11/19/18

DOCKET NO. 16-19 309A
DATE:	November 20, 2018
ORDER
An annual VA clothing allowance is granted for the 2015 calendar year due to VA prescription of topical ointment containing zinc oxide for the Veteran’s service-connected scars of the left and right inner groin.
FINDING OF FACT
VA-prescribed ointment containing zinc oxide, for treatment of flare ups of the Veteran’s service-connected scars of the left and right inner groin, causes irreparable damage to his outer garments.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for an annual VA clothing allowance are met for the 2015 calendar year due to the prescription of topical ointment containing zinc oxide for the Veteran’s service-connected scars of the left and right inner groin.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1162, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the Navy from September 1990 to September 1992.
This matter is on appeal before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) from an August 2015 determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs VA Palo Alto Health Care System.
The Veteran asserts that the VA-prescribed zinc oxide/Boudreaux’s Butt Paste he uses when the scars under his scrotum on his left and right inner thigh flare up stains his work slacks and that he usually must discard his slacks, after attempting to salvage them by washing them two to three times unsuccessfully.  See November 2015 notice of disagreement; May 2016 VA Form 9.  In support of this assertion, the Veteran submitted information from Boudreaux’s official website, showing that the ointment is an oil-based product that is known to stain clothing.  He also submitted information from an internet webpage unrelated to Boudreaux’s Butt Paste that notes that stains from zinc oxide coupled with oil bases are difficult to remove, often requiring 5 or more different steps to treat the stain.
The law provides for payment of an annual clothing allowance for each Veteran who uses medication which a physician has prescribed for a skin condition which is due to a service-connected disability and VA determines causes irreparable damage to the Veteran’s outer garments.  38 U.S.C. § 1162; 38 C.F.R. § 3.810.
Here, the Veteran is service-connected for scars of the right and left inner groin.  VA treatment records show the Veteran’s active medications include zinc oxide, which is to be applied daily before activity to reduce rubbing of the skin.  See April 2014 through June 2016 VA treatment records.


Although VA generally does not consider zinc oxide to be an ingredient that results in irreparable damage to clothing, the Veteran has submitted competent and credible evidence in support of his assertion that the Boudreaux’s Butt Paste he has been prescribed by VA does in fact result in irreparable damage to his outer garments.  As such, resolving doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that an annual VA clothing allowance due to the use of medication, zinc oxide, for the Veteran’s service-connected scars of the left and right inner groin is warranted for the 2015 calendar year.  38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.810(a)(1).
 
S. C. KREMBS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. Samuelson, Counsel